AA -1.16, -0.11 was expected.

I think AA might need a 12-step program.

AA -1.16, -0.11 was expected.

That can only mean that we're closer to the bottom than analysts expected.

I'm going to buy everything in sight when the market opens tomorrow.

Alcoa's loss is $.28/sh v.s. $.05 expected loss. Not good.

Combining the large need for sign twirlers created by the housing downturn with the traditional need of people in LA to get publicity, we had the West Coast Sign Spinning Championship in December.

Spinners step up moves in a sign of the times - Los Angeles Times

The housing crisis could have been a death knell for Aarrow. About 90% of its business used to come from developers looking for help selling their properties, Kenny said.

But the company went after new businesses in early 2008 when the market started to crash, he said, and it found that advertisers liked the way its spinners grabbed attention in an advertising-saturated world.

"They see you and they see the sweat on your back and the dedication, and they know it's not something you go out there and nonchalantly do," said DiJon Rice, a spinner who won Aarrow's nationwide competition in 2007.

In the last year, Aarrow has promoted luxury apartment buildings, Little Caesars Pizza and mobile phone retailers such as Go Wireless. Aarrow plans to open franchises in five cities and a handful of countries next year....

Kenny said advertisers are looking for a cheap way to get that kind of attention. Aarrow charges $25 an hour and up for its spinners' services. "With the economy slowing down, people are really starting to realize how cost-effective we are," he said.

That's good news for Aarrow, which has seen a 60% rise in applications from prospective spinners this year. Its website crashed a few weeks ago when too many people were trying to click on the jobs section."

You can't make up stuff like this.

what happens to the tenants in an apartment building if the landlord skips town with the rent checks and foreclosure ensues?

BSR:
Until the complex goes into BK, then the contracts are honored. The tenant is not responsible for the mortgage contract, so the lender can't come after the tenant for arrearage. During BK, the trustee or the DIP can cancel the contracts if he/she wishes.

Caveat: everything but BK is governed by state law, so YMMV.

The bond bubble is an accident waiting to happen

In the past I've gone from being a big bond bull to being more neutral. Now I'm moving more into the "bond bubble" camp because I believe prices are now being artificially supported by government policies that aren't sustainable in the long-term.

That said, it seems that from past experiences it can be several years from the time people start crying "bubble" to the time when it actually bursts.

Wow... is this teh correct?

Fresh data suggest that Japan's economy contracted at a 12pc annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008...

For those of us who don't live in CA, FL, AR, or NV, why should we care?

It seems these four states seem to be the same ones mentioned over and over again with regards to this real estate bubble.

Why were the other 46 states able to practice some self control when it came to cheap, 100% financed loans, but these four states were not?

Umm, tenants' leases are abrogated in foreclosure. They have essentially no rights against lenders, whatever rights they might've had against the landlord originally.

In MA, multifamilies preceded SFHs downward, probably because of the very visible lack of support for bubble prices in the rent revenue stream.

...just a bit OT:

"Grand Jury Convened in Clemens Case.
The disclosure of the grand jury marks a new stage in the investigation of Roger Clemens, who has been under investigation by the Department of Justice for the past 11 months after he testified before Congress that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs."

Why don't they just leave the guy alone? He's a baseball player! Aren't there any "bad guys" to roast on Wall Street? There's gotta be some bankers around more guilty then him.

Janosik(Unrated) writes:
Speaking as the son of parents who grew up under Russian control of Czechoslovakia, I'll say this. The Russians know how the game is played. Slovaks, Russians, and much of eastern Europe and the Balkans have few illusions when it comes to government and the iron fist.

Putin would completely be the master of the game as it is played on the rough courts if he would have built an institution out of Russia and not out of Putin.

Now he's losing some of his edge as the novelty of his approach wears off, the years are piling up on him, and what state institutions he does have, he has been mickey mousing around with to keep himself in the limelight. A+++ as a despot, C- as a king.

(and thanks for the response!)

While I'm here, I propose a viral economic stimulus via increased tipping by those who are still employed/ have assets.

That money is needed, and it will get spent, circulated.

(Elvis mentioned before I did)

I've been reading some VERY interesting comments in the renters section of craigslist for my hometown - some pretty ticked off renters who are screaming about rents coming down. There is a real fight brewing out there..

123 "condos" foreclosed on in Fairfax VA condo conversion gone bad:

http://www.cbcidealrealty.com/media/PDFs/flyer_penderbrooksquare.pdf

or

TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

Everywhere you turn there is just too much stuff.
Every industry seems to have stolen its future markets to feed the fires of the credit boom. The illogic of government exhortation to banks to 'lend more' becomes more humorously obvious every day.
Like it or not (and I actually do like it) we are going to take a 'breather' for a couple of years. The government can pump out all the stimuli it wishes and it will mostly be wasted.

It just kills me that suddenly there is a "surprise" glut of housing - both rental and owned. Now that speculators and flippers no longer own 10 properties apiece, it seems that we didn't really need quite so much housing.

Boggles

I'm thinking that there's an opportunity here for squeeqe guys to keep all those twirling signs clean, and shoeshine guys to keep the squeege guys' shoes clean, and apple sellers to feed the bunch of them. Does that add up to 3 million Obama jobs yet?

Got peak civilization?