There is a terrifying graphic over at JSMineset, showing unemployment sweeping the land.

Welcome To Jim Sinclair’s MineSet 

You can see the D.C. Island immune from the consequences.

noob goldberg wrote:
But for those of retirement age maintaining a sharp mind, a wealth of accumulated knowledge, and that rare ability to immediately see to the root of a problem, it's humanity's loss if we can't find a way to tap that resource

Exactly. Much of this crisis in fact could have been both foreseen and prevented, not by experts or academics, but through common knowledge by the general public and political demand -- IF attention was paid to the elders in our society that lived through GD1 and felt many of the same sentiments toward what was going on. Divide and conquer, and the facilitation of generational animosity and artificial barriers to communication is a key strategy of control to TPTB.

I'm thinking of building a new mall and calling it Dream World USA. Of course it will have an attached Condo/hotel tower.

Rob Dawg, left you a reply long after the in the event you haven't seen it yet.

It is mildly amusing that there are so many working off the "what worked last time" model.

Zell was IMHO a lucky coin flipper. In a deflationary spiral Zell loses. in a rising interest rate environment Zell loses. That mens Zell loses twice over going forward.

Cinco-X: I figured it was the NSA taking an interest in us again...

12th Percentile wrote:

Personally I don't think most of these people think things will recover

The economy will recover. Residential real estate in bubble areas? You won't get to 2007 prices until, 2020 or later, and that is if there is 3% inflation.

Zell said the economy's great on CNBC weeks before we went into recession...

...the same guy that wanted to rename Wrigley Field.

i meant "people who own CRE that is underwater with rapidly declining rents, record vacancies, etc" don't think it will recover before the banks finally capitulate and take it back.

The economy will recover. Eventually. I hope it doesn't recover to where borrowing more than you can pay back is considered good and normal. Especially when you are borrowing to buy useless crap.

But if you own CRE and you've been paying your loan back with borrowed money that has run out, your are underwater and have crappy income on your property, I don't think you really believe you are getting out alive. But if the bank will give you a chance, why not take it?

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

So the California Constitution says no taxes but free tuition?

No the California Constitution is explicit that there is no in State tuition. The shame is in our sick pretending otherwise.

So don't pay and send your kid. When he's refused he has a case.

The Constitution can't promise something without providing the means to pay for it. It's the same vicious circle as the federal order to maintain prisons without cruelty. Constitutions are still subject to the imperfections of language and political logic.

When I hit the lotto I'm going to name my truck Grave Dancer.

OT-Another item for the WTF file:

Just received and urgent email from PayPal. The body of the email had these goodies.

Does anyone know the current status of the CIT Bank?

FW

DCRogers wrote:

why are REITs still levitating

There are a lot of hedge funds betting that they will be the first through the door when someone yells "fire" in the crowded theater.

Let's hope that they all are right (or not.)

Rajesh wrote:

There are a lot of hedge funds betting that they will be the first through the door when someone yells "fire" in the crowded theater.

What kinds of fools (coughCalPERScough) would be funding this insanity?

YouTube - Cricket Chirping

Terry wrote:

Still breathing

cue crickets

face it folk, it's all quiet, and damn well better stay that way until O gets back from China

Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a new financial literacy outreach program to promote financial literacy to elementary school students.

Press Release: Securities Regulators to Talk Financial Literacy With Students; 2009-245; Nov. 13, 2009

Societies, like individuals employ sometimes analysis and sometimes synthesis; and this determines whether the epoch which they pass through will be critical or organic. All history may be divided into critical periods and organic periods. The critical periods are those in which the minds of men are employed in investigating the principles of the government under which they live, in endeavouring to amend old institutions and to invent new ones; in which no creed commands the assent of all, so that society is without principles, discontented, changeful, and, in a word, in a state of anarchy. Organic periods, on the contrary, are those which possess an accepted doctrine, in which society is cemented by the synthesis of a common faith, in which the actual institutions give satisfaction to the world, and men's minds are at rest.

volker the viking wrote:

face it folk, it's all quiet, and damn well better stay that way until O gets back from China

Huh?

From Mauldin's latest newsletter:

If This is Recovery, Where Are the Taxes?

Remember that such reports are usually based on surveys, and generally cover mid-sized and up retailers, leaving out smaller businesses. Further, if you are a retail chain that has closed 10% of its stores, the remaining stores should in theory benefit from getting your loyal customers into them

All history may be divided into critical periods and organic periods.

Excellent philosophizing. However I find it difficult to see the present situation as an example of either a critical examination period or a time of organic functioning of healthy and useful social institutions.

"The bank is not part of the bankruptcy."

Oops

Companies with names matching "CIT"

Search Results

RiF
I just threw it out there for fun, just to see any reaction, my book reading is bouncing around and that piece is an excerpt from The Philosophy of History in France and Germany by Robert Flint 1874, describing a branch of thinking according to Saint Simon who lived through the French Revolution but the idea goes back to the guy who Voltaire got it from and Voltaire died a decade before the French Revolution began. France was very Catholic and this was all against the doctrine of the Catholic Church which stated history doesn't repeat because it is all God's plan.
Fits with the heretical market portfolio beliefs now; that timing matters and buy + hold is inadequate.

sm_landlord wrote:

Is that still considered heretical?

Every time you speak ill of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, a U of Chicago professor has a heart attack. Last I checked they have a full faculty so it still hasn't taken off yet. On TV up here one of the banks has this stupid ad that is all rah-rah about diversified portfolio of buy and hold. Don't take my word for it, ask a random sample of people what their approach to investing is

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

I like the idea of a social institution as an experiment or artifact that embodies and is designed to test the usefulness of, a philosophy or paradigm in the real world.

what a full load of used hay

take a simple universal concept, formalize the acceptance through ratification, and try not to fuck it up

Anecdote: Started Christmas shopping for the kids today (I am crowd-averse) and don't worry about the economy. The places were packed. You could barely get a parking space at Best Buy. Macy's had Christmas music playing. People everywhere. I thought it was the week before Christmas. w-o-w

I am no longer officially a doomer. I am a doubter, but not a doomer.

That's a big switch for me.

Has anybody played with Mish's unemployment predictions spreadsheet? We had a long talk yesterday about his post. Mish feels that his projections are quite conservative.

The link to the spreadsheet is at the end of the post.

Mish Unemployment Projections Through 2020 - It Looks Grim 

Places are always crowded. Not once during this debacle did I ever notice that places were empty. Next.

Reference Mauldin's comments above about retail survivorship, as well as this...

Last Business Standing
Yesterday I was with an associate, and I hesitated in asking them how their business was doing, because I knew things had been tough at the beginning of the year. But I did ask, and they said sales were up over the last months and business was looking better. Surprised, I asked them what made the difference. "Ah," they said, "less competition. Our competitors have gone out of business."

Best Buy and other electronic retailers had to benefit from Circuit City disappearing. That is Schumpeter's creative destruction at work. Not very good for total employment, but it does help the profitability of the survivors.

It stands to reason that businesses would look busy, because you have the same number of shoppers but fewer shops.

token bull wrote:

Places are always crowded. Not once during this debacle did I ever notice that places were empty. Next.

New para dig um. Some people believe and they are spending money they do not have and others disbelieve and are spending their money first

Home Builder's Return on Lobbying

Terry wrote:

Still breathing

cue crickets

+2

Boom Done