Comments on: Economic/Market Highlights 10/17

By: justsomeone

justsomeone — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:03:37 +0000

stodghi, you say,”housing drives the economy…” yeah Clinton/Bush thought that was a cool idea. It didn’t work. It won’t work. It’s a stupid idea. You can’t run an economy only on housing while you’re involved in all this global trade, unless you like big deficits.

By: justsomeone

justsomeone — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:55:34 +0000

LD, I think you’re doing a fine job synthesizing current market trends stateside; guess I just suspect something much larger going on in ring 3. This is a BIG circus that has come to town a really big circus.

By: justsomeone

justsomeone — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:45:00 +0000

I just tried to click on to a generic newsbite: “Europe lobbies Bush for global market reforms”, when I clicked the story had been “updated” & is now titled “Bush plans to host a summit of world leaders”. Here’s a quote: from Sarkozy to set the tone: “Together we need to rebuild a capitalism that is more respectful to men, more respectful to the planet, more respectful to future generations and be finished with a capitalism obcessed by the frantic search for short term profit.” Geeeeez, this sure gives me some insight into that weird Pimco commercial I mentioned the other day.

By: Docelder

Docelder — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:00:44 +0000

But the truth is… a lot of people bought homes for the wrong reasons. Also there was very little to no personal investment from many of these buyers. Some people took out mortgages for homes because it was “less than renting” while that may have been true at the time… it probably isn’t true now…. especially as home prices are falling. Some people bought homes because they looked to be good investments… again as they start to fall these buyers are walking out of their commitments. A lesser number of people fraudulently bought houses simply for the cash rebates given in elaborate ponzi schemes. Many of these buyers were not even citizens of the U.S. Many are not even in this country legally. Some of these homes need to be foreclosed on. It is an ugly necessity.

By: InsightAnalytical-GRL

InsightAnalytical-GRL — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:02:23 +0000

That’s Treasuries…sorry~

By: InsightAnalytical-GRL

InsightAnalytical-GRL — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:01:43 +0000

Thanks for this overview….I’m invested about 50-50 stocks, EFTs and US Treasures and guaranteed CDs….not broke yet!!

By: LD

LD — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:59:34 +0000

More color on the GM-Chrysler situation. Lots of moving parts. No pun intended…..

http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/G/GM_CHRYSLER_MERGER_TALKS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=BUSINESS

By: LD

LD — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:59:18 +0000

More color on the GM-Chrysler situation. Lots of moving parts. No pun intended…..http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/G/GM_CHRYSLER_MERGER_TALKS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=BUSINESS

By: LD

LD — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:44:40 +0000

Ann….There s plenty of opportunity for everybody here. There are many homeowners who are “delinquent” on their mortgages but have not yet defaulted. These delinquencies typically range from 30 to 120 days. I believe that these are the people/homeowners whom McCain’s plan would and should target.

Then there are those mortgages that are in default and the banks have either foreclosed upon or are in the process of foreclosing upon.

For these homes, I believe the government should provide real tax incentives for “private” money to enter the equation and take the risk of purchasing them.

This two pronged approach will not bring immediate stability to the housing market but will begin the process.

Just my opinion.

By: stodghie

stodghie — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:27:00 +0000

personally i think the market is stabalizing. i expect to see continued swings.

By: stodghie

stodghie — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:23:16 +0000

the idea of letting people be foreclosed is just plain stupid. the cost of doing it is far greater with interest rates, drag on the economy, loss in confidence. i could go on and on. housing drives the economy. i get so damn sick of tired of seeing people who don’t understand it screwing with it in washington.

By: stodghie

stodghie — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:19:14 +0000

also FDR SAID “WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF”. THAT IS JUST AS TRUE RIGHT NOW.

By: AnninCA

AnninCA — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:19:12 +0000

I worked in the S&L industry. Know precisely what you’re talking about.

Now, they “expanded” their portfolios, just as they once got into commercial real estate, to other states.

The idea was outdated. Alas, the housing crisis is all over.

But I did hear a good argument against Mccain’s idea to help renogiate mortgages. The argument was to let the bottom drop out, and then people who really can afford to get in will get in.

I would love to see you comment on that, LD.

By: stodghie

stodghie — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:16:38 +0000

housing starts a day at the beach? clearly you weren’t in houston with reagan’s grand plan to get the russkies. he used the price of oil and wrecked the houston economy. the failing banks and thrifts was also due to degregulation. the loss was greater than you indicate i assure you. there are areas of stability that are generally overlooked in the dash to be the most dismal. the democrats and republicans both have failed. they didn’t oversee like they were supposed to do. they allowed the crooks to take over fannie and freddie. it was a feeding frenzy on both sides. fha and va have made loans for decades to low income people. no problems till the govies let idiots screw with it. blame wall street and the govies for this. also blame the media for hyping this crap during the campaign for political gain and to get scared viewers. a great majority of this could and should have been averted if they agencies and congress had made some smart moves. did they do that? hell no! pelois had to show her ass. does she ever do the right thing? hell no! do the dimocrats? hell no! put the blame where it belongs and hyping that it is all over is what will make it be all over and nothing else.

By: ChooChooMagoo

ChooChooMagoo — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:54:01 +0000

Thanks LD for an excellent update. With so much info out there (and so little time) it great to have something concise and very readable.

The election is helping to keep us (in the US) distracted at this point. But I’m guessing as soon as this election is behind us, we’ll all be wishing we knew and understood economics much better. I know I do.