May 17, 2007

FLASH: Bernanke - "we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system"

FLASH: HousingPANIC says - "Wanna bet?!".

Either Bernanke is as incompetent and clueless as other Bush appointees, or he's just lying through his teeth to try to calm down the situation.

Either way, he's wrong. Why our leaders think Americans need everything sugar-coated I'll never understand. Just tell it how it is. We can handle it. Even if it sucks.

Fed: Mortgage Defaults Won't Hurt Economy

Fed Chief Says He Doesn't Believe Growing Number of Mortgage Defaults Will Seriously Harm Economy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that he did not believe the growing number of mortgage defaults would seriously harm the economy.

Facing criticism from members of Congress about lax regulation, Bernanke also promised that the Fed would do everything possible to crack down on abuses that have put millions of homeowners in jeopardy of defaulting on their mortgages.

"We at the Federal Reserve will do all that we can to prevent fraud and abusive lending and to ensure that lenders employ sound underwriting practices and make effective disclosures to consumers," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for a financial conference in Chicago.

However, Bernanke in his remarks did not detail any specific tightening of regulations, saying only that the Fed would hold hearings in coming weeks on the matter.

Bernanke said while it was likely that there would be further increases in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures this year and in 2008, he did not believe this problem would be enough to derail the overall economy.

"We believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will be limited and we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system," Bernanke said in his remarks, copies of which were distributed in Washington.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

.






Well, don't tell that to WAL-MART

Anonymous said...

100% pure bullsh't

here is a pic for the blog

http://hinessight.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/pure_bullshit_1.jpg

Anonymous said...

I agree with him. The other big things in the econonmy, education and health care, will probably still chug along and the trade deficit is growing so labor aribtrage is growing the corporations are making their money.

Anonymous said...

friend's of mine have e-mailed me ben's quotes ridiculing me for my opposite thoughts.

anyone have that link to all the great depression quotes by politicians of the era calling bottoms and what not.

Anonymous said...

Now that they have sent Stephen Roach (Morgan Stanley) to Hong Kong to shut him up, there is no credible person to take on Bernake. . .Roach was about the only Wall Street insider to take on the housing-bubble a long time ago. His predictions (like those here at HP) have all come true - and he felt the housing situation would take the economy down.

I agree that the world economy is pretty strong on the surface, but if the US consumer tanks (and they are), there goes China sales - if China sales falter, then the Shanghai market crashes, and then the world markets crash as they did in February. . .that's my two cents.

Anonymous said...

ben is another cheer leader for Housing . He does not care if millions of people go bankrupt as long as his friends at Federal reserve and rich buddies make money. I cant believe how irresponsible can you be?

Bill said...

Ok I am going to put a stake into the heart of the Nay Sayers.

I am a town inspector of water and sewer installation for a local town...I just went and did an inspection of an installation for a house that last year was on the market for $930,000 yes that is correct $930,000...it just sold for

drumroll please..DA,DA,DA,DA

$720,000....

that to me is a major haircut...the land was worth more than the house...anyway...yup things are right on schedule for a major meltdown. So all you stock market ball suckers get out now while you still can save what is left of your portfolio. I TOLD YOU SO!!

Anonymous said...

Well then, wrap this blog up, put a bow on it, and put it away. theres no bubble after all. Keith, you'll have to get a job like the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

what does Bernake know? He only has a PhD in economics. I'd much rather listen to the wise pntifications of a high school dropout renter on HP.

Anonymous said...

Come on Kieth, read between the lines.

We do not expect mortgage defaults to affect the larger economy, ergo, we do not see a reason to lower rates as everything is fine, nothing to see here.

This has also been the whole reason for the comments regarding their being concerned with inflation.

Just trying to maintain the aura of the soft landing...

Anonymous said...

oh man u gotta get this Ron Paul on the site:

http://dailypaul.com/node/147

"Rudy need to read the report and apologize to me"

wolf bliter interview

The Thinker said...

Bernake goes off of the same B.S. government numbers that we see and laugh at. Bernake's outlooks are based on these numbers. He does not question their value but WE DO.

Bernake may be a much better economist than we are, however, his outlooks are subject to the principal of garbage in, garbage out (GIGO).

In the end, everything Bernake says is garbage because all the numbers he is working from are garbage. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Anonymous said...

The Herald Tribune published a list of delinquent real estate property taxes for Sarasota County. 46 newspaper pages of small type. Doing a rough count shows about 12000 haven't paid their property taxes for this year.
Bureaucrats can lie all they want but the facts show that homeowners are on a slippery slope.

Anonymous said...

history will not look so kindly upon such statements.

Anonymous said...

What is he supposed to do? Tell the truth?

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Bernanke. Why would anyone think that one trillion dollar arm resets and millions of people going into foreclosure would effect the economy?

Anonymous said...

Seriously, do you ever think a fed head is ever going to go out in public and say, "We are expecting a major downturn in our economy because of the decline in the housing market, please brace yourself". Of course not. He would then be attacked as irresponsible and careless. He has to be positive even though he may know what lies ahead. Then again, these recent statements also may mean he doesn't plan on lowering interest rates anytime soon(since he says he expects the economy to remain steady) .....which is good for us HPers.

Anonymous said...

"high school dropout renter". . .

Actually, I would rather be a high-school dropout renter than a PhD owner right now. . . we dropouts have been "on the ground" following this disaster for the past two years . . .Keith should do a "best of" one of these days . . I would love to see the "bubble bench" make a comeback for a day!!!

Anonymous said...

"Fed Chief Says He Doesn't Believe Growing Number of Mortgage Defaults Will Seriously Harm Economy"

He's right. The foreclosures will only hurt the individual lenders and borrowers and derivative investors.
However, that's like saying that the fall out of a ten story building won't kill you, but the nasty sudden stop will.
It's not the foreclosures, it's the inevitable credit tightening that results after the foreclosures start hitting the big lenders' bottom line that cause things to grind to a halt. How far will this economy go without easy, easy, easy, crazily easy credit? Not too far. Even if you just tighten the spigot just a little bit, here comes the pain.

Give it to ole' Ben. He may not be too flashy, but he knows how to parse a phrase.

Anonymous said...

You don't need a PhD to see that this economy is unsustainable. World equity markets are being propped up by the unbelievable amounts of money being created by
CBs around the world. That and the M & A activity where Corporations absorb one another using leverage, ie going into debt. We have gotten to the point where even the average layman can wake up, look around and see something is amiss. Bernanke has to come out and make these absurd statements in the same way that D. Learah had to come out and cheerlead housing. If you choose to line up and be spoon fed this drivel then hey, its a free country. As for me, I choose to believe my own eyes and trust from my personal experience.

JAFO

Anonymous said...

Still waiting for a crash...

DOPES!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

"what does Bernake know? He only has a PhD in economics. I'd much rather listen to the wise pntifications of a high school dropout renter on HP."

May 17, 2007 4:09 PM
--------------------------------

Anonypuss, Bernanke is a dork.

BS = Bullshit
MS = More shit
PhD = Piled higher and deeper

Bernake's egghead credentials say nothing about his ideas. Do you take his word as gospel because of his title, or because what he says makes sense after your independent analysis?

Oh, golly gosh! Gentle Ben's a DOCTOR! From YALE! I'll believe anything he says, because I have no confidence in my own intelligence!

Even considering the fact that Bernanke does have a more solid grasp on economic theory than do most people, has it ever occurred to you that he may be lying, or spinning, or varnishing the truth, or predicting the rosiest scenario out of a range of possible outcomes?

Use your brain, man. Dont accept or reject ideas on an ad hominem basis.

RickyMartin said...

You know what amazes me? These people (benny boy, NAR etc.) keep on preaching that the treasure is at the end of the rainbow, yet the rainbow keeps on dissapearing. (POOF) hahahahha

poor suckers.. hahahah

Bill said...

He only has a PhD in economics:

----------------

And a masters in Word flipping, IE:
Alen Greenpalm

It will only be sugar coated for so long, you know what happens to sugar when it stays on a flame to long..it carmalizes to the color of shit.

Anonymous said...

"Bernanke said while it was likely that there would be further increases in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures this year and in 2008, he did not believe this problem would be enough to derail the overall economy."

But this still means that there will be alot of financial pain for the individuals, the places where there are high concentrations of defaults and that it will put a drag on the economy this year and next.

Anonymous said...
what does Bernake know? He only has a PhD in economics. I'd much rather listen to the wise pntifications of a high school dropout renter on HP.

May 17, 2007 4:09 PM
------------
1st - its spelled Bernanke.

2nd - High school drop out does not preclude one from being a member of the REIC.

3rd - There are alot of REIC high school drop outs who've been crowing that there is no bubble.

4th - There is a chorus of well regarded and highly educated people who've expressed great concern about the RE inflation the last 5 years, e.g. Mr. Shiller, Mr. Roach etc.

Anonymous said...

Who cares? All I want to know is how I can make money off it....
People can rot and that includes murderous Iraqis. Let them slaughter each other. Who cares about the homedebtors? Let them rot, they were greedy f*cks. Who cares about all the illegals, the govt. just granted them all amnesty. You think they're gonna register and pay fines and wait 13 yrs? WHAT??? Why the hell would they do that rather than just keep doing what they've been doing? Let's think of ways to exploit them instead. And Ron Paul? He's blaming the US for 9-11. Sounds like Rosie to me.....

Anonymous said...

"We at the Federal Reserve will do all that we can to prevent fraud and abusive lending and to ensure that lenders employ sound underwriting practices and make effective disclosures to consumers," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for a financial conference in Chicago.

This is supposed to inspire confidence? What the hell were they doing before all this stuff happened?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like more bullsh@t as usual to me.

Subprime created the bubble and will take it down.

I nominate casey serin for worst person in the world for the last 2 years.He should be in a jail cell in siberia serviceing convicts.

Unknown said...

"Bernanke said while it was likely that there would be further increases in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures this year and in 2008, he did not believe this problem would be enough to derail the overall economy."

That could be true if another aspect of the global credit bubble derails the economy first. Kind of like your
doctor saying the your prostate cancer will not kill you when he knows there is no way you can avoid
a big time heart attack in the next couple of years.

A Sinclair said...

Problem is more than subprime--it is tighter lending standards for Alt A, stated income, low down payments, etc. This eliminates a % of the potential buyers and reduces the amount that people qualify to buy.

I live in Palm Springs, Ca. and the market here is off by 10%, possibly more. It does not show in the median because the # of transactions on the lower end has declined faster than the # of transactions above the median. Foreclosures are increasing and putting more supply on the market.

It will take some time to work through this problem. New homes have declined in value faster than existing homes but the builders have done everything possible to avoid lowering the sales price. New car free with house, free pool, free upgrades, etc.

A Sinclair said...

Live in Palm Springs, Ca. Housing market is off 10% on existing and more on new houses. It does not show up in the median because of two issues:
1. Builders are doing everything they can to hold the sales prices at year ago #'s. You can get a free BMW with your $350,000 house or the pool is free this year or free upgrades, one years free mortgage payments, etc.
2. The decline in transactions of homes on the lower end (below the median) has dropped faster than the # at the higher end.

The median is holding while values are declining at the bottom and at the top.

The public view is the median but it is not telling the story.

Anonymous said...

It is now obvious that the housing bubble, whatever the cause, is now top of mind. He would dearly love to lower rates, ala Greenspan of 2001 & 2002.
The only thing stopping him is:
1) understated inflation
2) nearly Banana Republic status of the US Dollar.
3) the thought of American boat-people sucessfully landing in Vietnam.

Anonymous said...

lying vs stupid.....these guys and their cronies invented the game, push and pull all the levers, and they know EXACTLY what is going on.

So lying....you bet. It is all spin.

Remember, pirates run the country....a small band of pirates. They only say and do things that benefit each other.

You and me?.....cannon fodder for their wars.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

"what does Bernake know? He only has a PhD in economics. I'd much rather listen to the wise pntifications of a high school dropout renter on HP."

LOL. You have gotta be one dumb chimp. You probably listened to Ken Lay when he told you not to sell. Wake up monkey, there's someone stealing your future!

Anonymous said...

"
Use your brain, man. Dont accept or reject ideas on an ad hominem basis."

What do you EXPECT from a fucked borrower or too much home buyer?

Remember, that anon above listened to Suzanne! Remember, she did her "research". har har har.

Anonymous said...

"We at the Federal Reserve will do all that we can to prevent fraud and abusive lending and to ensure that lenders employ sound underwriting practices and make effective disclosures to consumers," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for a financial conference in Chicago.

This is supposed to inspire confidence? What the hell were they doing before all this stuff happened?

May 17, 2007 7:17 PM "

Ben was firing up a big doob while that was going on!

Anonymous said...

"You know what amazes me? These people (benny boy, NAR etc.) keep on preaching that the treasure is at the end of the rainbow, yet the rainbow keeps on dissapearing. (POOF) hahahahha

poor suckers.. hahahah "

I think that is the point - it is a constantly moving and shifting target.

Anonymous said...

They don't lie to us because we can't handle the truth. They lie to us because it is in their best interest to keep the truth from us.