Foreclosure!

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Here's more....

And right now the US is entering just such a time. Possibly one of the best windows of opportunity in our lifetimes. Because that puddle forming under the cloud above your broker's door isn't rain. It's blood. Hemorrhaging from books of investment banks up and down Wall Street.
You can't open the paper today without reading about a financial crisis stemming from the sub-prime debacle reaching new, out-of-control proportions. See for yourself:

"American Home Mortgage joins more than 50 lenders in bankruptcy this year."
~MSNBC - Aug 6, 2007
"Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s $8 billion Global Alpha hedge fund has fallen 26 percent so far this year..."
~Bloomberg, Aug 10, 2007
"Hedge fund operator Sowood Capital Management said Friday it would return $1.4 billion to investors after losing an estimated 60% of their money last month..."
~LA Times, Aug 4, 2007
​

Fifty mortgage lenders bankrupt this year alone. The largest investment bank in the nation's biggest fund down over $2 billion in 7 months. Hedge funds taking a hit for 60% IN A MONTH. The list goes on but you get the picture. If this isn't a bloodbath, I don't know what is.
The powers that be have tried to calm the waters.

• On March 28th, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress he believed that sub-prime defaults were "likely to be contained."
• On June 20th, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the fallout "will not affect the economy overall."
• On June 27th, Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal claimed the defaults were "reasonably well contained."

They all wanted you to believe that everything in the market was just fine. But as you can see by the chart on the right, they've all been forced to change their tune.
By Monday August 13th, the Fed had injected $40 billion in liquidity into the financial system over two days - the largest Fed move since 9/11 - trying to keep things rational.
Well, I'm here to tell you that bad news isn't all bad. You see, Baron von Rothschild was right. Whenever a crisis erupts anywhere in the financial world, it brings along with it incredible opportunity for profits.
The Chinese have a word for it: Weiji. Loosely translated it means "crisis" but broken down literally it means "dangerous turning point." The critical point in a dangerous situation where tides can shift dramatically.

 

[bloomz]

bloomz, seems to me a little more like when Clinton was in office. Back then everyone was cooking the books, ala Enron, MCI, all the dot coms, and no one was worried because everyone was getting a piece of the action. Seems Bush took a page from the Clintons play book and now that the bubble burst everyone is peed off.

How creative Fox - blaming Clinton for what you admit Bush has done. Not very original but a bit creative just the same.

Wonders never cease - but thank goodness the majority of the public isn't quite so easy to bamboozle any more. Just you diehard Dumbo supporters, come hell or high water. (was that a pun?)

History is not going to be kind to poor lil old georgie. He's earned the reputation of a miserable failure that will be written in the books.

 

[Eric S]

Great post mikey.

 

[sfox]

But bloomz

How creative Fox - blaming Clinton for what you admit Bush has done. Not very original but a bit creative just the same.

Wonders never cease - but thank goodness the majority of the public isn't quite so easy to bamboozle any more. Just you diehard Dumbo supporters, come hell or high water. (was that a pun?)

History is not going to be kind to poor lil old georgie. He's earned the reputation of a miserable failure that will be written in the books.

The real irony with your post is that you always talk around the issue. The only reason that times were so good under Clinton was that being crooked was acceptable.

Like I said, bring on Hillary, she'll get things moving again. She steal from the hard working, to give to those who won't the bubble will start all over again. bloomz, you seem to have a hard time with reality.

And talking about the public being bambozzled, they blew up the World Trade center under Clinton and he did nothing. The blew up the USS Cole and Clinton did nothing. Talk about losing face in the world community? Behind Clinton's back they were all laughing at him, they knew all they needed to do was give him money and everything would be allright. The Chinese were so busy stealing our military secrets, they hoped he would have been like Franklin Roosevelt and have been elected for 4 terms, by then they would have owned our military. And Clinton would have probably have thanked them.

By the way bloomz, did you sleep in the Lincoln bedroom? I remember there wasn't much in Washingtom that wasn't for sale. Or was your memory impaired by your accident?

 

[bloomz]

And now they blew up the World Trade Center big time and Dumbo attacked the wrong country!

How many of those attackers were Iraqi or is your memory impaired from that silver hair?

And yes I did sleep in the Lincoln bedroom many times.

Here's yer fearless leader - doing well, ahem, his particular style of leading, I guess.....

 

[Joe Mioux]

bloomzie,

I really miss debating politics with you.

I just can't figure out how you and I can agree so much of flower shop stuff and YOU BE SO WRONG in politics.

My opinion varies...

Joe

 

[TexasFlowerGuy]

All right now you've done it.....

I tried my best to keep G.W. Bush out of the Governor's seat in Texas....(which by the way is the 5th most important post in the state)...and anyway he made govenor.

The fact that he was elected Govenor in the Great State of Texas remains a mystery to me, since he was clearly a draft dodger, and failed in every business his father was ever able to get him into. This guy was a known loser long before the rest of America ever knew it. And I can document that fact. He is an embarrassment to our country...and worse...an embarrassment to the State of Texas.

Then for God's Sake....some Bozo nominates him for President. ....worse yet he gets elected twice. And I have listened to criticism from all sides. My Republican friends rode my (_l_) when I stood for Kerry. Yet not one of them have come to apologize now.

George is a criminal; long before he was elected president, he violated U.S. Drug Laws. He also went AWOL, during his alledged military service. He has willingly mislead the American public, as well as our allies. He has authorized violations of the Geneva Convention. He continues to hold prisoners without any rights in Guantanomo. He, and his staff conspired to reveal the name of an American CIA operative (treason). He has commuted the sentance of one of the conspirators. He and his staff have repeatedly committed perjury. Further, he has illegally wire tapped U.S. Citizens. These are not allegations, they are historical facts.

Worse yet, George W. Bush has alienated every ally this country had. Further, he has sacrificed almost 4000 of America's finest, for his false charges of "WMD".

Finally, wake up and face the real outcome of Iraq. Currently, it is a low-level civil war. As soon as we leave, the Iranians are destined to control most of the country. Yep, the same people who want to destroy Israel, and the rest of us "infidels".

Further, he has failed the American people domestically. Not only are we subject to more future acts of terror than ever....look at the mess his adminstration made of the disaster in New Orleans.

I have followed the guy closesly for over twenty years.....he has been a loser since the start.

If you don't understand this...you need to do some reading...instead of listening to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

As Joe says, "opinions vary". But facts are facts.

In the words of Mark Twain, when you find yourself arguing with a fool; two fools are arguing.

I will say no more on this subject on this board...other than....please do a little reading.

All the best

 

[bloomz]

WOW! A Texan who can see it as it really is! Great synopsis.

I nominate that post for political post of the year on flowerchat.

:yourock:

 

[Joe Mioux]

George is a criminal; long before he was elected president, he violated U.S. Drug Laws. He also went AWOL, during his alledged military service. He has willingly mislead the American public, as well as our allies. He has authorized violations of the Geneva Convention. He continues to hold prisoners without any rights in Guantanomo. He, and his staff conspired to reveal the name of an American CIA operative (treason). He has commuted the sentance of one of the conspirators. He and his staff have repeatedly committed perjury. Further, he has illegally wire tapped U.S. Citizens. These are not allegations, they are historical facts.

Mike, there are SO many things wrong with you assertions and innuedoes,I don't know where to start. Most of it is promelgated by a sympathetic biased media!

If you don't understand this...you need to do some reading...instead of listening to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

Fox news is basically boring. I choose to wake up to the liberal and mindless drivel of MSNBC... In the evening it is that pinko Chris Mathews and that bittter mean spirited mind-numbed liberal robot Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann's only claim to fame is his over-acted feined disdain for Pres Bush. He is too stupid to come up with an original idea.

You ought to listen to Rush on a daily basis....

The media does....why not you?


Joe

 

[rhjuska]

Go Fred Thompson!

I'll spare you all the good GWB did for our country and our businesses.

If Hillery Gets in , Ill retire to the Philippines, I can live like a king on the water, on SS.

 

[TOTO]

WOW! Clinton GOOD! BUSH bad!

Amazing what the cool aid can do to some people.

As to this WAR currently being waged, it is NOT A WAR against any one Islamic Country, but a WAR AGAINST an extremist Islamic idealism. Facts are that, unless you nonbelievers accept Islam while embracing Allah, they have no other choice other than, TO BEHEAD YOU and YOURS.

Clinton, by ignoring all of the prior attacks on the US by Islamic Terrorists, chose the easy way out and DID NOTHING!

Well, he did let someone do something in the OVAL ORIFICE but we'll keep all of that under his desk since, he was (according to him) a non participant as a DOO-EY, not a DOO-ER, other than with a cigar, some say.

His own Attorney General, Janet Reno, and the Justice Department, built a wall of silence which prohibited the CIA from sharing top secret security information regarding possible terrorists targets and threats with the FBI as well as all other US law enforcement agencies pre 911.

Here's a few scary links to remind all of us of just how serious their threats are, to the safety of all US citizens.

http://www.usawakeup.org/mission.htm

http://www.usawakeup.org/

http://www.prophetofdoom.net/

Failing your reality check, I can only advise you to get a jump on the purchase of burkas for all of the women in your family as required under Sharia law as well as a prayer cloth for yourself as you turn to Mecca five times each day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6270626.stm

 

[PhillyPhlorist]

Good bedtime readin'...

Sorry guys,

I am one of those folks who think it's the Parents JOB to teach kids about money and the value of a dollar - not our school system. The schools can teach math skills, but you should learn from home about how to budget, save, spend WISELY.

Don't just blame the banks, I also know of some real estate agents who sold a bag of goods.

Both so very true. My folks taught me how to save, budget, and MADE me pay for nearly EVERYTHING.

Back in the day (10 years ago December) My bride and i bought our 1st home. 7.56 int. rate. We were VERY lucky to have a money man who stood in our corner at that time, and only qualified us for what we could afford. We have refi'd 2x since then, the latest rate is a 4.56%, and chopped 15 years off our mortgage...same money man. Can you say INTEREST SAVINGS!!!

...
Is this what you might suggest to remedy the coming recession brought on by the housing collapse and the likely election of a Democrat to the White House?

Ahhh...wouldn't put $$$ on that quite yet!!! Can you say FRED...

Would I rather see our government bail out its citizens or squander more billions blowing up, rebuilding, blowing up, rebuilding, blowing up, rebuilding Iraq.

Gee let me think.....

Dems seem to favor programs the help our citizens, Pubs seem to think they just need to eat dirt yet don't mind squandering our money abroad.

As Reagan said, "...there you go again...".... BLOOMZIE, I am truly astounded on our uncanny ability to inject politics into a discussion...
Oh, programs??? THAT'S RIGHT..."Dems" like to SPEND, don't they? Yea, yea, so does this and the last Congress in general, and HERE I AGREE with you that W failed to stop the spending...

ahh - 7 years of Bush...

Ahh, no way you can blame all this on Bush alone! Come on, Bloomzie, you're smarter than that. Don't let your hate for W cloud your intelligence. There are way too many factors here...greed and ignorance being two main ones...

I hate to say it, but what we are hearing now is just the tip of the iceberg. I am really praying for a good holiday season...many of us...not ALL of us here need one. These foreclosures scare the beegeesis (sp) out of me...

- H.

 

[PhillyPhlorist]

Amazing what the cool aid can do to some people.

Failing your reality check, I can only advise you to get a jump on the purchase of burkas for all of the women in your family as required under Sharia law as well as a prayer cloth for yourself as you turn to Mecca five times each day.

T - :yourock:

I love that last line...

- H.

 

[BOSS]

Are they nuts??

Again, according to Time, there are 40,000 (no it's not a typo) condos under construction in the greater Miami area. Heck, maybe I should think about changing my retirement home from Northern Michigan to the sunny south!

This is gonna get uglier than it already is. While the Fed has been boasting about the 46% increase in job creation during 2006-07...almost all of that was in the construction industry, which, now that there is a bumper crop of housing for sale with steadily dropping prices will begin to slow to a crawl as far as new construction goes, and thus the layoffs will begin.

It's a vicious circle...

 

[Joe Mioux]

Again, according to Time, there are 40,000 (no it's not a typo) condos under construction in the greater Miami area. Heck, maybe I should think about changing my retirement home from Northern Michigan to the sunny south!

This is gonna get uglier than it already is. While the Fed has been boasting about the 46% increase in job creation during 2006-07...almost all of that was in the construction industry, which, now that there is a bumper crop of housing for sale with steadily dropping prices will begin to slow to a crawl as far as new construction goes, and thus the layoffs will begin.

It's a vicious circle...

It's called the market.

Artificial price supports or stimulants never work. At least they don't work long-term. Low interest rates, spearheaded by the FED Reserve has caused this problem and entrepeneurs capitalized and seized the opportunity.

I wonder how many of those condos are second or third homes, and/or time shares.

Oh one other thing, I heard on MSNBC First Look program this morning that the polar Ice above Greenland is melting which means that the Netherlands and south FL will go away and be underwater. Keep the home in N. MI.

joe

 

[BOSS]

IKeep the home in N. MI.

joe

Oh I plan to....

Yep, I read too, that the Polar Ice Cap will be 50% of what it is today by 2050, not by 2100 as was thought just a few years ago. Interesting, they *say* that no matter what we do today to stem the decrease, nothing will stop the degeneration, and any changes will take 2-3 decades to make any difference. Too late for the Polar Ice.

 

[Frank]

It's been a long slow road of living in a too small house, but we are glad we stuck it out with a low payment.

Why did you not re-finance, pull some cash out, and enlarge your home so that you would live in a house whose size would make you happy?

 

[Eric S]

So did the bones that the fed threw out yesturday start to put things back in the right direction?

Would it of been better to let those risky loans go to default?

Just curious what some of you think maybe the answer to this probelm.

 

[BOSS]

So did the bones that the fed threw out yesturday start to put things back in the right direction?

Would it of been better to let those risky loans go to default?

Just curious what some of you think maybe the answer to this probelm.

No, I don't think the bones will do allot of good, maybe in the short term, but not to cure the flu the lending industry has. This is going to take at least 3-5 years to straighten out, and there will be allot more failures, at the personal level anyway. The Feds response was designed to "float" the banks and lenders doing little to help the homeowner. They do not want to see bank failures happen.

This whole debacle came to be, because of the lenders...zero interest or interest only payments, zero down (no equity), qualifying borrowers for loans way beyond their means, at least after the real interest rates kicked in. Then, on top of that, these loans were sold to investors by the lenders, the paper was/IS very risky, because those buying the paper, have no clue as to the credit worthiness of the people that are supposed to be making the payments. Now, the investors that are holding the paper (worthless paper in many cases) have in their hands, ticking time bombs, with the fuse growing shorter every time an individual files bankruptcy. Eventually the bomb goes off.

Yes, IMO they should let the system correct itself, let them fail sad as it is and will be. Those of us that are playing correctly should not be taxed for the stupidity of others, especially since this was caused in a feeding frenzy based on greed.

The greed came to be when the "flippers" (those that buy homes, with no intention of occupancy) began buying low, selling higher and to anyone, even those that should not qualify, the "American Dream" drew them in, and now it is spitting them out. Many "home owners" today, really own nothing except paper, as they have no equity to fall back on, thus the financial institution behind the paper also has no equity in the loan, as the payer can not make a dent in the principle, and paying interest only does nothing to fix the problem.

This issue is on the list to be discussed today on Capitol Hill, it will be interesting to see what they think. So far, it's estimated that it will take several trillion dollars to right this ship...

Perhaps it's better to let the ship wash up on the rocks, and then, as with any disaster you help the survivors, mourn the lost, and move on. There is little hope of solving this mess, by simply throwing dollars at it, it will take many years for the true fall out to be realized.

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Perhaps it's better to let the ship wash up on the rocks, and then, as with any disaster you help the survivors, mourn the lost, and move on. There is little hope of solving this mess, by simply throwing dollars at it, it will take many years for the true fall out to be realized.

remember, though, as prices start to fall, and the spike in bankruptcies rises, "TRUE" opportunities to buy "bargain" properties, and equity bearing investments, again begin to reappear, and those that were "prudent" during this financing bubble, and DO indeed have solid equities, will have tremendous opportunities, and in many case, it'll be bank repos, and insolvency auctions, that will be wonderful sources.
Often, the marketplaces, ARE indeed self correcting, HOWEVER, as a contrarian thinker, I DO support the Fed's attempt at slowing the decent into the abyss, by showing faith in the US economy, and actually dumping money into the banking "reserves, AND dropping the key rates by 1/2 points at a time!!
Many current homeowners ARE living the American Dream, and should NOT be "punished" unduly by land and property speculators, that have driven up prices, & demand, with NO intention of EVER occupying the properties, and the US SHOULD and MUST impose severe taxation (capital gains)of those that continually "flip" residential properties.