Comment deleted by CR. Not appropriate.

ZeroPoint, you general knowledge level is compatible with your knowledge of chess. Google José Raúl Capablanca.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. . . it's toooo laate.

That judge in Palm Beach County with the 40,000 foreclosures. . .
Does it really matter if she has 40001, or 50,000, or 60,000. It
can't be done. It just can't be done.

Zeropoint ...
if you are so knowledgeable tell me then what ails the king of Thailand and what is his current medical condition?

Ok.

What else is at that latitude on the earth. Longitude? I always get those
mixed up.

Liz - ham and cheese omellette.

That foreclosure wave is going to keep building in other locales as well - take a look at the Year Over Year change in EMRATIO (civilian employment to population) - the shock waves are just beginning to propagate through the economy.

The current YoY decline in EMRATIO (for the 3 month MA) is -2.87%, the previous lowest value of -2.17% was for the recession in 1954. And the YoY change has been accelerating, well over a year into the declared recession...this presages further declines in prime mortgages and further increases in credit card default rates.

Plot up at:
energyecon

(hat tip to EHP, it was conversation here with him that reduced the employment analysis to EMRATIO)

Liz: fiber is always recommended as we age. Helps clear the senses as well.

Made eggs yesterday. Got no ham, except the one I'm married to.

Coffee---ahhhhhh.

My crepes are made with whole grain, hence some fiber.

D

whole wheat crepes sounds like a nonfat latte 8)

You haven't tasted my whole grain kamut pancakes and crepes.
They taste BETTER than worthless white. Also buckwheat--excellent.

Crepes are a pain to make, especially batting the hands away, while
I finish. Otherwise everyone is scarfing them up and done before
I sit down. Had to do it to me mum last week. NO, I'm NOT done. . .

CR,

Do you feel the various charts showing option ARM recasts over the next few years are still accurate? I mean, are they taking into account all the refinancings, and the fact that ultra-low rates may be extending the length of time for some to reach their LTV ceilings?

I get the feeling we are seeing the same stats bandied about that may have been compiled a year or more ago.

Here's my candidate for Saturday Rock video, on CR's Loudon Wainwright III theme, it's "Suicide Song".

YouTube - Loudon Wainwright III - "Suicide Song (Medley)" From the album The BBC Sessions

We saw him at a small club here just a couple months ago. Very amusing guy.

buckwheat crepes => blini, right? never got those to turn out right.

Speaking of ultra low rates, a friend here in HK took the plunge on a $1.5 mill (US) flat at no more than 1300 sq ft. but in a nice hood. Said he, rates so low, could not pay any more rent, nor keep savings for next to nothing. famous last words, but I wished him well. He'll spent at least $50K to get that place liveable.

HK, gotta loath it unless you're talking your book, or have left the gaming table....

I think blini are white flour. Is there such a think as white buckwheat?

Later, gators.

ZeroPoint
get a lot of feedback here on the 'sting' operations the Thai police do on farang (foreigners)
trying to score some pot... the police set it up with the dealer and to get the get out of jail card
costs about 400-450 $
....
here in Cambodia a person can legally own up to 38 plants for medicinal and cooking purposes,
some months ago a 78 year Khmer was busted for going over the limit... he had 2,200 plants....

Duke: Well, you have to drop an anchor sometimes and this is it. As Farang But Thailand is after all TOT similar to TOA...

I mean TIT and TIA

" Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com estimates that 15.4 million homeowners -- or about 1 in 5 of those with first mortgages -- owe more on their homes than they are worth."

Five to one, baby
One in five
No one here gets out alive, now

"No one here gets out alive, now"

Spotted!

Five to one, baby
One in five

No one here gets out alive, now

You get yours, baby
I'll get mine
Gonna foreclose on the prime

The NY times real estate section is really pumping the second home market for newbies...featuring homes below 300k in less fashionable locales...noting that the markets there are already off 30% and "will bounce back faster". We're talking upstate NY, northern Ct, etc. The young couples pictured all say they still can't afford to buy in the city, so they are buying tiny homes in the country, before "this is over and prices go back up".

The New Country Squires - NY Times

this bettin' Tibetan needs a nap... bye

That is the full extent of the data series available - this is the beginning of time for the collection of that data by BLS.

D

We had gone to a open house in May. The area is great for us. The townhouse was nice. There were 2 units for sale. One of them a foreclosure. Both sold for between 550 -625K in a couple weeks. Now, there is another foreclosure. I looked at the fotos. It looks good. At least all the appliances and countertops are there. Bank owned and selling for 410k. Ouch...

Same thing for neighborhood. The foreclosure down from us sold in 2 weeks. Bank priced it 100k below everything else. Not a good thing for the onnes for sale or just sold...

Would it be possible to find 56 influential men & women today that would claim the high ground in such a fashion?

You mean like the MDs at Goldman?

D

(knocks on the door..)

Sarah Connor Palin?

I heard that last nite. Why did she resign?

D

Hey Dirk,

Thanks for picking up that plot on the 3month cumulative impact of the B/D model - the data I plot and blog is basically for my own amusement - very cool if anyone else gets some mileage out of it.

They weren't temples; they were churches. //snark.

LL, No, she found out Todd was having an affair with a moose.

California is in the midst of an ugly debate about water–uglier than normal–because of a confluence of events, including a “hydrologic” drought caused by nature, a longer-term trend to restore some water back to failing ecosystems, and the gross mismanagement of the state’s water, which has been going on for a century, but is affecting us now more than ever.

But despite all of the rhetoric, news stories, name-calling, yelling, and screaming, Californians have very little clue about what a real water crisis looks like. It looks like what’s happening in Australia. Today’s Water Number:

Water Number: 18,000 tons of rice. That is the total rice production from all of Australia last year, compared to the long-term average from 1970 of over 720,000 tons, and the high (in 2000) of over 1.6 million tons. Effectively, Australian rice production has dropped to zero because there is not enough water. And that is only one measure of the severity of their water crisis.

(from Peter Gleick's blog)

A threesey.

Of more interest and consequence IMNSHO is Lt. Gov. Parnell...

Energyecon,
More than happy to do so, makes my life a lot easier when I can lean on a lot of smart people like the commentariat. Lord knows I make lots of use of CR's wonderful chartporn. I figure I am largely writting for a different audience than CR is or you get at your blog, but perhaps a few of them have followed the links back.

There's is a there there with the resignation of Ms Palin. It'll come out, someone here will report it first. Not me.

I got my own moose.

Yes, but is it a lady moose?

She resigned because some one was mean to the baby.

She could have been one heartbeat away.

D

Deleted

So Gov Bimbo is getting ready to try and grab the brass ring in 2012. I'm sure that O loves that, cant think of an easier beat than her.

I want to be like Rebecca A*****, an "Operator" for the White House. She makes $42,800.00 Per Annum plus a nice benefits package I'm sure.

I want to be like Charles A*******, a "Policy Assistant" for the White House. He makes $50,000.00 Per Annum plus a nice benefits package I'm sure.

I want to be like Candice A***** , an "Assistant Shift Leader" for the White House. She makes $57,129 Per Annum plus a nice benefits package I'm sure.

I want to be like Kathrine J. B*********** , a "Director Of Response" for the White House. She makes $75,000 Per Annum plus a nice benefits package I'm sure.

29-pages of White House Employees with names and salaries. People of the Aristocracy.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/July1Report-Draft12.pdf

Dirk..........you sound so young and naive.

Ah, a new day.

Palin is resigning, probably to run in 2012.
Austraila rice crop is nonexistant, higher prices. More hunger.
Ca is still broke, doesn't have enough water.
N.Korea blasting off again.
More forclousres on the way. Both RE and CRE.

I want to go back to bed now.

D

I want to go back to bed now.

would you like a moose?

Palin and Gingrich or Gingrich and Palin...............that will be the next Republican ticket......Obama might have trouble getting elected to anything other than DC Mayor after his 1st four. He's in trouble. Did you see what was "tacked" onto the "Climate Bill"? Pathetic.

ZeroPoint is obviously a wee bit frustrated. And not given to subtleties.

Moose are different. The male has the best rack.

volker, LOL

spit my coffee.

D

Zero is the new Jas! We needed a Jas. Well, maybe. Well, maybe not.

Are you drunk, Zero. Do you really think that it is common knowledge that
the Dutch are tall?

D

from a previous thread-

TJ and The Bear (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/4/2009 - 2:20 am

* reply
* Ignore user

Yeah, the Cali budget thing is huge; people don't realize what an outsize impact this state has on the nation (although they should now given the housing bubble)

I think it is fair to say that most of us on this blog are pessimists/realists and so we tend to look at the negative side of most things . But why exactly is the Cali thing such a big deal? By law they are not allowed to file for bankruptcy. So handing out IOU to vendors and certain class of social services recipients will in the end cut spending as vendors decide not to provide services in exchange for IOU they can't do anything with.

delete

The "ignore user" button is your friend.

Gosh, Josap, you sound like me. 150% would help a few, help being broadly defined
to include "screwed", but actually 175% more like it. Not gonna happen. Toooo late.

MrM (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/4/2009 - 8:33 am replyIgnore userAnd China, Rusia and India are hammering away at getting rid of the dollar.
That will be a real mess.

Maybe that's what they want, no?

Yes, that is what they want. However I haven't heard them say what they want to replace the dollar with, other than a multinational currancy. That isn't going to happen and they know it. 'So what is the real end game for them?

Sorry, no more feeding, but I couldn't quite grasp what he was ranting about.

No I have. No abortions for Moosettes.

josap: their end game is control of gold

they lead in gold production and sell none

they are buying as much as their hot little hands can get hold of, the recent announcement would buy a huge amount from the IMF sale and tap about 6% of their hoard of treasuries

Yes Liz, we are seeing the same things.

And I see so many people thinking things will work out for them "somehow". So until the shoe drops directly on their head, they won't get the clue. That is sad as they could start making survival plans now to be in a bit better shape after the lump on the head heals.

MrM (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/4/2009 - 8:31 am

CR keeps repeating that when discussing house prices one has to control for the house mix. Same with EMRATIO - one has to control the composition of the numerator to understand what is going with the economy.

People entering the workforce later and leaving earlier and surviving longer.

Zero tolerance policy is now in effect.

Rate of change is the relevant parameter - and the current value of <60% is in the context of the current economy - comparison to EMRATIO levels in a structurally different economy is a distraction.

Because the current economy requires two incomes to service debt in the majority of households, the impacts of that unprecedented rate of change have not fully propagated through the economy, nor have the full feedback effects.

You don't seem to making much of a point with respect to the numerator, honestly. And any nuance is a tie in to U-6 and weekly hours worked.

I'm not so sure of the 2 incomes thing. When you factor in stuff like child care, and child care and child care, and clothes and more money
for lunch and other food, and transportation, you often find that the 2nd income isn't really
bringing that much in.

Plus the stay at home could do lots of stuff to save money, if they (she) knew how.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. To nova's point, I think that ~$50K in annual salary working in DC has the purchasing power of ~$30K of salary in most of small town, USA...it's a living.

The unquestioning follower - well, that is a problem wherever people can succeed by sucking up - that is an issue much bigger than just the current administration...

I did see that China and Russia are buying all the IMF gold. China is also stocking up on oil, iron, etc, etc. Just like stocking the pantry before the winter storms. They have to be ready before they really force the issue.

And yes, I think they are intent on being the major world powers. It would make sense. And killing off the dollar would cause the shift. Interesting times we live in.

I honestly don't think they are sucking up so much as being charmed and bedazzled
by the chrisma.

I met Hubert Humphrey once, it didn't come over on tv, but in a 10 second handshaking
session, you could just feel it. (I had on a Goldwater button and he laughed about it.)
He was shaking hands in the rotunda.

~$50K in annual salary working in DC
It's for the resume / contacts, not the salary. Think: How much does college pay?
Now imagine attending the White House

Not all states have judicial foreclosure yearning.

Posting is quicker.

was it rich or Rob Dawg who kept harping on the idea that house prices are no longer "sticky"??
Yep, and don't forget Elvis "lubricated". But ten years from now, when we see a graph of house prices, we might be surprised how long they took to fall. (I'm all ready surprised.)

Yep, it is toooo laaaaate.

YtoL,
forclose and bros!
That would make for a great conversation around the BarbQ chicken, potatoe salad, ambrosia, green beans, beer etc....

ot-sister runs a high end grocery store -bristol farms in newport coast, ..shoppers used to come in and order 1k to 2.5k of food, liquor, party trays, catered food etc...
none this year......

D

Rate of change is the relevant parameter - and the current value of <60% is in the context of the current economy - comparison to EMRATIO levels in a structurally different economy is a distraction.

No need to become defensive. I did not say the rate of change is not important - of course it is as the economy is built around a certain level of EMRATIO and if that level changes the economy has to adjust. I do think it is important to keep in mind that EMRATIO is a very aggregate measure and it can't capture all the important changes happening in the economy. A silver bullet EMRATIO is not, alas.

The other point worth remembering is that at 60% EMRATIO is not in unchartered territory - it is back to where it was 40-20 years ago.

Because the current economy requires two incomes to service debt in the majority of households, the impacts of that unprecedented rate of change have not fully propagated through the economy, nor have the full feedback effects.

This is precisely why the composition of the employment number is important - as people move to part-time jobs their income will drop but that won't be captured in EMRATIO.

And any nuance is a tie in to U-6 and weekly hours worked.

Not really. U6 is a sum of unemployment and underemployment, so again it does not control for the mix. I prefer looking at them separately. Crudely speaking, it can be captured by looking at U3 and (U6-U3), but the latter uses different denominators, so it is a little odd as a construct.

Weekly hours come from the Establishment survey IIRC so it is less comprehensive than the info from the Household survey.

energyecon (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/4/2009 - 8:45 am

To nova's point, I think that ~$50K in annual salary working in DC has the purchasing power of ~$30K of salary in most of small town, USA...it's a living.
The unquestioning follower - well, that is a problem wherever people can succeed by sucking up - that is an issue much bigger than just the current administration...

Big cities are expensive. It's just a fact. There's no use denying it or resorting to hand waves about economies of scale or whatever. This is why Kunstler is both right and wrong. If there are going to be really tough times a mobile society is going to seek total cost of living location minima. That's not going to be cities.

D

D

Lliz, yes newport is rich, might spot CR there!
Y2L- they have already shut some stores...I've seen ribeye there for $15 a pound, safeway will have it for 9.99 or on sale for 4.97....amazing wealth or at least a look of wealth there....

Fresh doom story addition before we leave for the inlaws.

sample

"We got a nice view from here also." We started into the usual routine, and even had extra time to do odds and ends like maintenance on our equipment. When it grew dark Max called me over. He didn't say anything other than "Follow me." I followed him over to the far side of the mound. A old SUV had been left there. The vegetation was reclaiming it but it was still recognizable. Max climbed on top of the hood and extended his hand to me.

"I would try the roof but I don't think it would hold." I looked at him quizzically. "Just look around. Scan the horizon." I did. I saw the lights of houses off in the distance. It looked like a cluster of businesses still had power and a reason to be open a few miles off to the right.

"I don't get it Max. All I see is darkness."

"Right. Happy Fourth of July." Then he jumped down off the truck and headed back to our camp.

site:afterthecrash.net

Gratuitous rock blogging on depression survival, who will pass The Test? (Chemical Bros)

YouTube - Chemical Brothers - The Test

C

Yeah, I usually hear some fireworks by now. Maybe I will set some off, just
for old time's sake.

Garlic? Tomato?

Maybe I should check to see if I have functional garlic.

I've kept some people in houses who might be kicked out by now!!

Doesn't that count?

I agree that Newport Beach is "rich"

however, not everybody in Newport Beach is rich.

and like many places in CA, it changed notably over the last 10-15 years with a huge influx of people.
some of them are truly "rich"
some of them are "rich" because they happened to live there prior to the new arrivals (which gave them tons of equity in their homes making them rich on paper)
and many of them are posers stretching.

as the demographics changed you saw more and more luxury things going into that area. where before there may have been 5 luxury grocery stores, suddenly you had 50. replicate this through all retail in the area.

not only that, the "Newport adjacent" areas surged in price as well. that added people to shop at the luxury stores in Newport. but they weren't as rich as the Newportonians (word?)... if they were they would live right in NB!

but now the tide is going out. people are now finding they aren't as rich as they thought.

there is still a luxury market in newport (and elsewhere) but it is smaller than it was 3 years ago.

and this was clearly a nationwide phenomenon.

Just look at these ridiculous $300 jeans, and $5 cups of coffee and Uggz boots and so on. those are luxury products, consumed by the masses.
add in pergraniteel in the houses and outdoor kitchens and you see the consumption mania. much of it fueled by the financial wannabees.

newport is rich

Newport RI was really rich at the turn of the 20th century.

As for today's "truly rich" try this How hedge fund wives are learning to cope - Times Online (from today's Yves Smith link collection)
On a recent sunny afternoon in New York City I was talking with a girlfriend who happens to be a hedge fund wife. She was complaining about her husband, once a highly compensated trader whose fund had closed down and who now, in her opinion, wasn’t doing enough to find a job. The couple had been bickering non-stop about their cashflow problems. From behind a pair of oversized black lenses, she confided in me that she was at her wit’s end and was considering pulling the plug on the relationship. “I didn’t get married for this,” she whimpered, adding ruefully, “Do you know I have to take the subway now?”

Take the subway, oh, noezzz.

I guess she skipped over the "for poorer" part. Wrote her own vows maybe.

Mr M, This newport in california

9 Pelicans Drive, Newport Coast CA 92657, MLS #U9001081, Weichert.com

So that's a vote for garlic?

The only thing better than some garlic is more garlic.

....actually no, I beg to differ.. The BIG PICTURE, as you call it, starts on the local front. He who whines and cries about FedGov or "TBTF" problems and also does NOTHING locally is missing the BIG PICTURE. What have YOU achieved/helped on your local level???

I've done what I felt I could, but probably could do more. That said, in general we all can do more than we do.

Personally, I went and talked IN PERSON to the staffers of my representative and also in person to the staffers of my senators
I called them many times
I emailed constantly
and I tried to educate those around me of what was happening, which spurred some of them into trying to doing the same.

After the bailout I went back to those staffers in person again and asked "why did s/he vote for the bailout when the people's will wass 99% against?"

their response: "because the senator/representative trusts Bernanke who is an expert in these things"

i guess I could go down there again, although I now realize it is futile. sure, I can vote in somebody "new" but my representatives and senators ARE new for the most part. (Klobuchar, Franken/Coleman, and Kieth Ellison)

so what would voting in "more new" do for me??? (not saying I won't vote "more new" just saying it doesn't seem to matter".

Mr M, This newport in california

I know I was just saying that it's nothing compared to Newport RI a hundred years ago

damn, should have been gone by now....
but I noticed that many of you got into a beat up Sarah Palin mood, now,
I am not defending her or disparaging her but did anyone read the Nixon
transcripts recently released, esp. his remarks on Harry Truman?
According to RMN Truman was way short on brainpower... but tough in
decision making.
....
those tapes are a rare look into presidential decision making, the likes of
which we won't see again...
....
sorry did this get in the way of her recipe?

Isn't it lucky, I don't have 24m to waste.

Isn't it lucky, I don't have 24m to waste.

it isn't 'waste", it's an investment!

this place is clearly "special" and "special" RE never goes down in value! It's a steal!

LawyerLiz...
boy, are you Needy....

volker-I like serranos! didn't know about the joint thing..hattip..need that...

Isn't Newport very rich indeed? Rich for real?
Which reminds me, my sister left 2 phone messages about not getting fitted fro that tux for the August Wedding in Newport. I haven't worn a tux sense her last one.
Newport is actually the shallow end of the pool, where developers are actually admired.

the active ingredient is capsaicin:

Capsaicin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lordy, July is busting out all over... be careful out there citizens!

But if Sarah Palin takes her show out and goes nationwide, road show like, what an attraction. Like a Diane Arbus 24-7 audition for the real deal. Can't wait.

First for the cotton candy concession, aisle 2.

In Phoenix Metro most of the investor / flippers have been buying the very low end units at really give away prices from the banks. There are still some out there and there will be more. A ton of condos are going to reset this year and next, the banks will sell those at give away prices.

What will be interesting here is the large numbers of midrange properties that are just begining to work through the system. No one will buy. They aren't cheap enough for the flippers. They are too expensive for new buyers. No one is "moving up".

Properties that sold at the high of $600.000.00 and over are now worth maybe $250,000.00. And with the med income at $54,000.00 these properties have no buyers.

"I think it is fair to say that most of us on this blog are pessimists/realists and so we tend to look at the negative side of most things ."

Yeah, but many of us try to verify. The wife and I drove down to the water at 7 this morning for coffee down at the Yacht Harbor. No charge for parking before 10, and there's a coffee house with good pastry right on the beach. Get yerself a large and a muffin and sit on there on the promenade at the edge of the beach and watch the cabin cruisers motor out to sea and the catamaran club carry their big canoes down the beach to the water and launch. Best free hangout in town.

But this is a tourist town, a beach town, and it's the Fourth. So we cruised the motel districts on the way back and found plenty of Vacancy signs. Five years ago, never. A few of the big, newer places looked full, and when you get within a block of the water it's a different story. But the cheap places farther out that would have been filled with budget vacationers from Modesto and Roseville and Fresno and Sacramento and all the places where it's 105F right now... not doing so well. On arguably the second-biggest holiday weekend of the season.

Yeah, I'm a pessimist, but I know what I'm seeing. And this is no mere anecdote. If you can't fill all the hotel rooms in Santa Cruz on the Fourth of July -- things just aren't good at all. Businesses are going to continue closing. Unemployment will rise.

First for the cotton candy concession, aisle 2.
I'll take take the Mooseburger, Cheeze Whiz, and Budweiser.

volker:
you had asked about foreclosure stats in non-Big markets.

I live in Mpls.

here are our stats:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/docs/2009_Citywide_foreclosures_summary.pdf

2007: 2895 (1136 through the end of May)
2008: 3077 (1419 through the end of May)
so far this year: 890 (through the end of May).

so looks like foreclosures are DOWN this year so far.

I'll dig for NOD's etc. and also for metro as opposed to city data.

Anak if you were around in '62 I bet you said the same about Nixon...
washed up, a joke... etc...
unlike you I grew up in a family that was politics 24/7 thru the
60s until the 90s...
.....
as a kid I shook LBJ's hand inside the rope line...
along with a bevy of pols for years... Bobby, Eugene, HAK, Connelly, etc...
unless you were in the business and my old man was
... think James Carvile... you don't know squat...
why did Gore lose... terrible org people in FLA
my old man would've had a public hanging

"...as a kid I shook LBJ's hand inside the rope line..."

and it didn't wither and fall off?!

volker...
in '66 LBJ's hands were quite large and powerful, thank you very much...
Bobby's hand shake wasn't much, a bit fey...
....
cost of a vote back then? a half pint of Canadian VO...

More thread music: The Kinks' "Shangri-La."

YouTube - The Kinks - Shangri-La

Dawg....
Mr Farrell? as in Colin....don't understand your reference...
Lyndon Baines was a towering figure, so was Connelly...
but Bobby was on the slight side...

are you speaking of that character in the JFK movie, that
ridiculous piece of movie manipuation?
...
surely, you don't think flaming Jim Garrison had an ounce
of credibility.
did you read Case Closed and also read the recent blood splatter
analysis?

I saw more than a few election posters altered to read:

McCAIN

PAIN

Yes, Duke. But what happens when you shake the hand of the devil?

Capsaicin is excellent stuff. There is a cream with it that you can rub into sore joints
and muscles, not only relieves pain, but helps healing. I don't recommend it if
you don't like hot peppers. It's similar to rubbing hot peppers in your skin. You
have to go with the burn. And not rub your eyes. I think it's good for the heart too.

Nobody around? Out to barbeques?

As to the $300 jeans thing, I had a client years ago who was in that
business. Many of the expensive jeans are made of the same stuff,
with the same workers, and even to the same cut. Oh, and in
the same factories, too. The only thing
different is the label. Sure that's not true in all cases, but how would
you know? If you want studs or sparkles, better to go to the crafts
store and add your own.

All the talk about bread. So I had to settle for a store bought cinimmon roll. My parrot helped me eat it, but she wasn't too fond of the spice.

Liz, denim products are among the most complex textile products you can buy given weave, process and wash. Not to say the low price stuff is any less desireable. Love that denim, for what it does.

Time for kempff playing schumann and to bed.

Have a good holiday, all....

Too hot to walk outside here now. Although we cook outside so as not to heat up the house.

Too hot to sit outside half the day to wait for dark and fireworks.

If you want to see come of the collateral damage done by the RE bubble, check out the aerial view of this property for sale at 60% off:

1342 Tiffany Dr, Brentwood, CA 94513

"...the recent blood splatter analysis?"

What is it?

Too hot to do much. Murphy's says if I plan to go down to the Mall for fireworks it'll hose down. If I don't, it'll be great.

Fun link for the day: local mosquito activity readings...
weather.com - Mosquito Activity Forecast

C

"Too hot to do much. "

In NW DC it's in the mid-70s and pleasant, I think. But the mosquitoes do swarm in the evening.

"So at least we'll avoid another Tony Danza Sweat Nightmare on PBS tonight."

The Mall can be beastly hot, even on not so warm days elsewhere in the area. I think it's radiant heat from those big stone buildings.

no local fireworks here this year,walmart had them in store,dont think diisplay was as large as last years.i havent heard any maybe after dark.

I don't mind importing Chinese fireworks.

the banks are able to drag their feet on these foreclosures

I'm not sure foot dragging adequately describes this:

Wells Fargo Closes Accounts if Firms Offer Loan Mod Services - Mandelman Matters

"
Today, I was informed that Wells Fargo Bank is unilaterally closing the business checking accounts of companies simply because they are offering loan modification services.
"

and

The Bank’s Latest Tactic to Shut Down Loan Modification Firms - Mandelman Matters

"I got a call today from someone who is in the loan modification business In Arizona. He told me that if you’re a loan modification company, you will not be allowed to have a merchant account with Wells Fargo anymore....Wells Fargo has decided that they’re just not allowing loan modification companies to process credit cards anymore."

To be fair a lot of those loan mod firms ARE fraudulent. I know 2 people who gave them
a thousand or 2 and got ripped off. I don't know anybody who succeeded in getting
a loan mod with them.

Iiz Tru Dat.
I'd say only about a third are legitimate

Agree, most of the loan mod firms here are scams.

You can't modify a loan that is 150% underwater. Most are at least 50% underwater.

Naughty, naughty banks (actually governing body wishing the problem away is even naughtier) , another reason why RE prices will be stagnant for years to come. If you artificially slow down cleaning bad loans out of your books, it only means constant supply of foreclosures for years to come. It will be wave 3 due to the higher unemployment, wave 4 due to the higher interest rates resets impacting demand, wave 5 due to payments resets, etc.

If the LA Times is finally getting around to printing it, the Alt-A, Option ARM meltdown must be getting ready to start. They are always 1-2 years behind the curve. At the end of this summer, the media will be on this much worse than the subprime story of 2008. That in effect will cause panic as suddenly everyone is talking about defaults, foreclosures etc. It's old news but it finally comes mainstream.

The Westside of LA will get hit hard, as the only property being sold will result from undercutting the latest sale. It should be real interesting around September....

WestsideREmeltdown