This is inflationary, right?

likes quadruple witching.

EDIT: maybe our first triple digit down-day in ages.

nova wrote:

My FIL is loving retirement. His income is SS, a pension tied to COLA, and Treasuries. Meanwhile his wife is slowly dying at home. Of course, medication and the Dr's bills have not gotten more expensive.

My parents retired on two pensions and SS and a low-deductible med plan that cost $40/month. Most boomers aren't getting a deal like that.

Cinco-X wrote:

It's probably just profit taking, and even if it isn't, that's the way they'll spin it.....

It's supposed to snow here in Chicago overnight . . . .

Not exactly on the current topic, but I've been searching listings in a couple towns I might want to eventually move to. The number of preforeclosures not currently on the market, but likely to hit the market in the next 6-12 months is equal to between 50 and 80% of the inventory currently on the market. These are formerly frothy, but not full-on bubble areas. If this is typical, it's hard to see how there can't be a distressed induced double dip coming in the real estate market later this year. I'm still bearish, and even I found the numbers shocking.

Anybody depending on SS is in for a big surprise.

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

I may be pissing up a rope

---You're doing it wrong.

---Nice edit, Gerkinov.

The wage base always seemed to rise faster than my salary.

Turbo wrote:

The number of preforeclosures not currently on the market, but likely to hit the market in the next 6-12 months is equal to between 50 and 80% of the inventory currently on the market.

I'm not sure what it means to be in "pre-foreclosure", but I've noticed a similar spread in this area. I wonder if being in "pre-foreclosure" means being 2 months behind in mortgage payments. If so, it may be possible that these homeowners are basically getting their mortgagor to give them what us essentially a revolving loan equal to 1 or 2 months house payment. This sort of strategy is common in small business, and IIRC, was mentioned in Guerrilla Financing.

Still have words of praise for the Fed and Bernanke, CR?

The Constitution calls for a regular public statement of all public funds. What are they they hiding and why are they so concerned with trade secrets of banks? Are their ingenious innovations needing protection from competitors?

Instead of praising them, how about joining the call for release of the documents.

"It would be nice"... doesn't quite cut it.

a low-deductible med plan that cost $40/month.

There were quite a few people back in the '80's who thought they had retired w/a similar health care benefit.

Turned out, their former corporate employers could easily change the rules after the fact, i.e., employees had done what they'd agreed to, but oh well, corporations had now decided they didn't feel like living up to their end of the bargain. Oh well.

COLA won't go up, just the cost of food, gas and utilities, medical care and insurance.
Maybe the rent will go down in the skilled living centers?

azurite wrote:

employees had done what they'd agreed to, but oh well, corporations had now decided they didn't feel like living up to their end of the bargain. Oh well.

Governments change the bargain, too. Watch what happens over the next 20 years.

LANDO: You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision.
VADER: I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.

MaryAnn,

Yep. Time is merciless.

ShadowInventory wrote:
Pension and benefit shrinkage... just one example of many to come...
Does this mean the boner pill ads are going to disappear soon? If so maybe there is hope for us after all.

PALM got killed today. Live by the hype, die when the hype wears off.

Remember when PALM was on top of the world and controlled the PDA market? What the hell happened?

Oxtail wrote:

Remember when PALM was on top of the world and controlled the PDA market? What the hell happened?

We began to expect that capability in our cell phones. New paradigm...

'Knight' owes millions, say investors - national | Stuff.co.nz
A man investors say owes them millions of dollars is pumping petrol in Otaki, north of Wellington, and says he is a knight. However, investors want to know why he has gone unpunished after he was charged with fraud in America.

OT, but I gotta know:

Vonbeck, if you are still here, I've been wondering -

Did Mel, the guy on the oil rig you mentioned earlier, did he know ahead of time that his birthday stripper would be his wife's sister?
Was it a salacious gift from the wife and her sister, arranged ahead of time for his benefit with their cooperation?

Or was it, like, a surprise, all of a sudden when the guys said, "Hey, man, we got you something for your birthday," and then out jumps sis-in-law shakin' it?

I like to think it was a surprise, followed by an awkward moment of recognition and down-cast eyes while hootin' and hollerin' went on around him. And then maybe she shrieks, and runs for the powder room when she sees who the guest of honor is.

(But the joint wife/sister-in-law "gift" angle has interesting possibilities, too, you betcha.)

COLA won't go up, just the cost of food, gas and utilities, medical care and insurance.

Talked to a cabbie from Belarus in sin city last night. He gave the standard curse of communism, but he had a good laugh when I gave him the old "everything the Soviets told us about communism was a lie, but too bad everything they told us about capitalism was true."

He readily admitted that the older people wanted the old system back, but that his generation (30's or so) was happy to 'reset'.

OT.

In doing my research on the local housing market, I came across this gem...
Raleigh Real Estate Blog: Triangle Area Ranks Number One in Housing Market Health

"Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, a California research firm, has ranked the Raleigh-Cary real estate market first and the Durham-Chapel Hill market sixth on its list of the healthiest markets among the top 100 U.S. housing markets.

Jonathan Smoke, senior vice president of products and innovation at Hanley Wood, had this to say about Raleigh real estate:

'Based on end-2010 economic forecasts, we think Raleigh will be the healthiest of the largest 100 markets in the country. Raleigh comes out on top because of stronger employment conditions, moderate household income growth, and continued strong household formation. The market still is expected to see minor home price declines (approximately 3 percent decline expected for 2010 over 2009), which is one factor that keeps the market from being even stronger.'"

If the best market in the country is going to lose 3% this year, what does that say about the national decline? And where's Seb to tell me how the Triangle is different?

crazyv wrote:
but Honey none of things matter as long we don't allow gays to marry or serve openly in the military.
Damn right! Are you finished with that squirrel leg?

Cinco-X wrote:

Not Seb, but isn't one corner of the Triangle Washington, DC? That would be a BIG difference between the Triangle and the rest of the country.....

Triangle is central NC. The "corners" are Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hell. (that's not a typo, I'm a Duke fan)

I wonder if SS will send out a nice letter like the Census did.
I think the Census was just throwing the Postal Service a bone though.

Hey, this is year 2010 already. Where are the flying cars, rockets and latex chicks? Future is late already.

That's an early failure.
Cost to DIF 17.1 million.

black dog wrote:

Robert Wagner will have a job for the next few years going on tour pitching the reverse mortgage scam...er, scheme.

He can tout the RevMo whilst playing KebMo in the background to soothe the suckers anxiety. Actually, any reverse mortgages done in the sand states in 2006 are probably good deals for the borrower and not such good deals for the bank. Imagine borrowing $400k with collateral worth $200k today? The banks might be regretting that decision...

Home Gnome

Relax yogi.

"You want to end the Fed and all you have to sing..."

Hey, I was the optimist today! I say the S.Ct. may deny cert. It would help if public pressure were to boil.

Our esteemed host is deservedly growing in reputation. Why is so much space given to a few billion in mortgage modification when $2 thousand billion were lent in the secret PDCF?

BremNorthwest wrote:

Maybe I missed something, but did anyone see this?

Nice catch. You may want to email CR directly. Looks like FDIC is starting to spread out the work load. It's probably an attempt to mess with Bank Failure Fridays... Hey Gnomeish one. You might have to start your poll on Saturday and close it by 4pm EST Monday if this keeps up.

the reverse mtges I've closed seem entirely appropriate for the old folk

Really? I thought the fees they extracted were exorbitant leaving heirs holding a bag of air.

wish I could find the quote repeated in print somewhere
but Bernanke believed the tech bubble would be solved if no one looked at their investment statements
he needs a bubble rapidly to avoid a second downleg
should work with the us export-import bank to offer negative interest rate loans to buyers of exports, to be held within an expanded to the Treasury's off balance sheet $4tn Federal Reserve fund

EvilHenryPaulson wrote:

do they not pay taxes on the income either at disbursement or ultimate resale?

Not sure why liz hasn't replied, but it's just a loan. No taxes involved. It's what made the Home ATM just a wonderous invention a few years ago.

Cinco-X wrote:

Posted by Edward Harrison on 18 March 2010 at 4:41 pm

In late 2007 the global economy began to stumble, slipping into the abyss of a deep recession and financial panic. We are only now recovering from this stumble, in large part due to an unprecedented level of fiscal and monetary stimulus. Yet, no sooner is daylight within reach, we start attacking each other, tearing each other down.

That's because the recovery is the result of inflationary policies, and inflation is nothing more than the economic manifestation of theft, deception and lawlessness.