Via Corrente:

Read Full Post »

Link:
Jay Butler, who teaches real estate at Arizona State University, said of the builders, “They really weren’t building homes. They were building mortgages that they could put into mortgage-backed securities in order to sell them to investors in China and France.“

Read Full Post »

If not your own town:
A major Wall Street firm agreed to return $37 million to 17 cities and towns in the state, as well as to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, after it allegedly misled them into buying investments they thought were as safe as cash.
UBS Financial Services Inc. reached an agreement with Attorney General Martha […]

Read Full Post »

Keeping in mind that this lying piece of shit serves as “informal adviser” to John McCain, Rove handicaps the state of the Democratic primary campaign. I’m sure there’s some truth in here someplace, but we just don’t know where.

Read Full Post »

I really loved the outrage over Clinton’s comments about economists when it wasn’t so very long ago that the majority of them were still insisting the economy was In Great Shape and there was no recession, nope, everything was fine and getting better. But then, I’m not invested in protecting the academic class, which gives […]

Read Full Post »

Foreclosures are helping newspapers stay healthy!

Read Full Post »

Of course, we always knew what humanitarians they are:
At a time when parts of the world are facing food riots, Big Agriculture is dealing with a different sort of challenge: huge profits.
On Tuesday, grain-processing giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. said its fiscal third-quarter profits jumped 42%, including a sevenfold increase in net income in its unit that […]

Read Full Post »

But it’s not all bad. Soon swap meets will dominate the economy!
With the overall economy growing at a mere 0.6 percent annual rate for the second quarter in a row, consumer spending advanced by only 1 percent, the government estimated. That was down sharply from the 2.9 percent gain for all of 2007 and the […]

Read Full Post »

Finally!

Read Full Post »

Or half full? Depends on who you ask, I guess:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The share of vacant U.S. homes rose to a record level in the first quarter, the government reported on Monday, with homeowners finding it increasingly difficult to find buyers in a collapsed market and more homes in foreclosure.
The percentage of owner-occupied homes now […]

Read Full Post »

They just can’t seem to help themselves:
WASHINGTON — The mortgage industry, facing the prospect of tougher regulations for its central role in the housing crisis, has begun an intensive campaign to fight back.
As the Federal Reserve completes work on rules to root out abuses by lenders, its plan has run into a buzz saw of […]

Read Full Post »

Larry Beinhart on how we got into this economic mess and how we’re stuck there:
The real estate bubble is now routinely described as the root of our current economic problems.
That’s not true. It’s merely a symptom.
The problem is that the government, the nation, and the individuals in our country have all taken on massive amounts […]

Read Full Post »

Duncan points out that this could be a harbinger of serious trouble:
CHICAGO — Hundreds of thousands of utility customers are at risk of disconnections as the sagging economy drives up the number of past-due home heating bills and the amounts owed, utility companies in cold-weather states say.
Xcel Energy says 17%-19% of its 1.1 million Minnesota […]

Read Full Post »

Housing prices:
WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes fell in March while the median home price declined, as a severe slump in housing showed no signs of abating.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 […]

Read Full Post »

Wall St. Journal:
The next earnings nightmare for banks has begun.
Until now, losses at many banks have come from multibillion dollar write-downs on toxic debt. But analysts believe the costs of building bad-loan reserves could cause just as much pain — and for a lot more banks.
Banks establish bad-loan reserves as a cushion against expected losses […]

Read Full Post »

Somegirl sent this in:
Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and […]

Read Full Post »

People now understand something very bad is happening. They already knew the economy sucked, despite what the media elites continued to tell them:
The public’s ratings of the national economy continue to sour, with assessments deteriorating faster than at any point in Washington Post-ABC News polling. Views on the Iraq war have also turned more negative, […]

Read Full Post »

And there’s the other side of the same coin - after layoffs, workers are “offered” overtime to pick up the slack. (”Offered” as in, do this or you’re in the next wave of layoffs.) I know a couple of people who have been working 50-60 hour weeks for months:
Not long ago, overtime was a regular […]

Read Full Post »

And taking with the other:
WASHINGTON — The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative […]

Read Full Post »

AS go the malls, so goes middle-class America. And now, there go the malls:
Since last fall, eight mostly midsize chains — as diverse as the furniture store Levitz and the electronics seller Sharper Image — have filed for bankruptcy protection as they staggered under mounting debt and declining sales.
But the troubles are quickly spreading to […]

Read Full Post »

Paul Krugman cites a list of market measures, and says:
All of this involves fear of defaults by banks — despite what look from here (central New Jersey) like utterly clear signals from the Fed that bank debts will be socialized if necessary. I’m puzzled, and worried.

Read Full Post »

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink:
NEW YORK - Two hours north of New York City, a mile-long stream and a marsh the size of a football field have mysteriously formed along a country road. They are such a marvel that people come from miles around to drink the crystal-clear water, believing it […]

Read Full Post »

Remeber Albert Brooks’ brilliant “Lost in America”? “You stand under the nest egg, and when it rains, you don’t get wet…” Nest eggs aren’t doing so hot lately:
SO far, not so good. The year began with the worst quarter for the stock market in six years, a decline of more than 9 percent in the […]

Read Full Post »

Yeah, this is one of those times where you have to take any job you can get:
In another sign of a stagnant economy, relatively few companies have plans to hire more workers over the next three months, according to a survey of employers released Wednesday.
Just 29% of managers plan to increase hiring in the second […]

Read Full Post »

What Lance said.

Read Full Post »