August 15, 2007

Home values plummeting, hedge funds failing, banks shutting down, stocks falling, lenders and hedge funds imploding... And no surprises for HP'ers...

I saw a few headlines today in the financial papers - just took a peek to see how bad the global meltdown was getting.

Wow.

HP'ers - feeling a bit vindicated today? Not that there's anything to celebrate - it's gonna suck. But at least you knew what was coming.

Back to the beach... Talk to you all Friday. Post articles here (use tinyurl and just hit the highlights) of what you want to to get posted on Friday.

73 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a manageable crisis.....................
It's a fraction of the S&L crisis...............
He needs to put down his pipe for awhile.

Anonymous said...

i love the smell of vindication in the morning.

...seriously though, i thought when all the things were coming to pass i would be looked upon as the smartest guy in the room. all my friends, family, coworkers are talking about it as if they all new/saw it was coming.

unbeleivable.

Anonymous said...

.
.
.
Gotta give Countrywide credit, they're trying....Here is an email I got from them. I had my mortgage with them before selling earlier this year:


Dear XXX,

We want to welcome you back to Countrywide® with an offer you won't be able to pass up! Refinance your home loan and pay absolutely no closing costs.1 That means no surprises at closing — and more money in your pocket.

We call it the No Closing Cost Refi, featuring absolutely no closing costs: no points, no application fee, no credit reporting fee, and no title, escrow or appraisal fees.1 There's never been a better reason to refinance!

CALL TOLL-FREE
1-8XX-XXX-XXXX


I doubt this will do much to stem the tide of foreclosure. But if they are serious and it is really $0 cost refi, it will spur lots of business for them.

Anonymous said...

Not a realtwhore or troll in sight, definitely a strong sign that we've exited DENIAL and are in the FEAR phase!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Where are the trolls when you need them???

Anonymous said...

I can't wait until Countrywide expires. Getting tired of seeing that old fart in their commercials with his smug attitude. Like he's selling an ice cream to a little kid. Such devious marketing.

I am seeing fear in his eyes now though.

Anonymous said...

A blind man could see this coming

Anonymous said...

HPers-After all the debate about Deflation,or Inflation I think we have a winner. Deflation.Can CBs pump enouph psychology into the Markets to start inflation?
I think think poor ol Joe Six is tuckered out ,and will admire all his new toys in his garage from a lawn Chair with a case of bud,and some pals while discussing "When the Economy Turns around".
California's Budget is a mess,and it has been announced that they will be behind on paychecks.Also they have started their rounds of disciplinary suspensions,and firings in place of pink slips.

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/33359v

The govt's list of dead beat lenders

Unknown said...

Not a realtwhore or troll in sight, definitely a strong sign that we've exited DENIAL and are in the FEAR phase!!!!!

________

There were a lot of arrogant posts from trolls, on meaningless little pops in the stock market.

Now I imagine most of them are curled up in the fetal position, crying "Mommy!"

ALAN DEE said...

I wish I didn't know how bad it really is.
A wise appraiser once told me: Everyone in the sales transaction is smarter than the appraiser because they already know the number. The real estate listing broker and selling broker, the mortgage broker, the lender and of course the buyer and seller all know the number. The appraiser is the last one to the party.

Anonymous said...

Michael;
I share your problem,when I was touting this crisis I was considered "Chicken Little" now every one claims to have seen it coming.
Remember, "Failure is an orphan, Success has a thousand fathers".

Anonymous said...

As for the housing malret Burn Baby Burn!

Anonymous said...

Sorry HP, but it's not going to suck.

It's going to ROCK. This is a wonderful thing that is happening - many people, me included, will now be able to afford a house without going into debt for the rest of my life.

I AM celebrating this wonderful turn of events.

Anonymous said...

(yawn) Spin it all you want - in the end, you still won't be able to afford a home in 5-10 years, and I'll get a check when I sell and have been living in my nice beautiful home enjoying not having a landlord the entire time. I may lose $$ in inflation-adjusted dollars, but hey, guess what? I still get money in my pocket and get to buy another house - you don't.

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/3ybpsz

Read the article and take note of the last sentence.

Anonymous said...

Seems the MSM is finally reporting the YOY drop in home sales, rather than that monthly crap from before.

http://tinyurl.com/2z79a8


Makes for dire reading, and it is hilarious how the NAR is STILL trying to call the bottom!

Anonymous said...

Still here and going strong. My market:
Prices down 7.6% last 12 months. Prices off <1% year to date. Sales activity UP 6% in last 12 months. Life is good today. I hope for further price drops in fall / winter. My personal business up nearly 20%.

Hope all is well in the non Realtor world!

Anonymous said...

From the BBC:

" Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has taken on the role of senior adviser to Deutsche Bank's investment banking unit. "

Ha Ha HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Frank R said...

So much for all the loser realtrolls and FB trolls with their "the Dow is up so there's no housing crash, you idiots."

Does that mean my book sales should be up because the iPhone is selling well?

Dopes.

Anonymous said...

Bring it on! Yeah, baby!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone noticed that patrick.net is being ultra-conservative on their predictions of doom and gloom these days?

I think those guys called the crash several years too early and are now running into cognitive dissonance with the state of the world.

I see Harm and the other regulars over there saying they see no potential for hyperinflation, no possibility of depression, no precipitous price drops nationwide.

I really think they should be more freely embracing the panic at this stage. The potential for economic disaster has never been and will never be as great in our lifetimes as it is right now. They should just admit that they called the game too early, but that the ship is made of iron and it, most assuredly, will sink right to the bottom.

The slow motion train wreck style disaster we are witnessing is why I believe a depression is on the way. It is a slow, steady erosion of hope. Speculator's greed is like an apparently unquenchable thirst that is having a swimming pool poured on it.

I wouldn't be surprised to see 70 percent drops in median prices for existing homes in California.

The question remains of whether the fed will buy up vast tracts of land and houses, while Fannie and Freddie raise their caps by 300 percent, in an effort to stem the tide.

Maybe the answer will be for home owner to band together and sell their homes together in clumps.

Anonymous said...

my landlord is a realtor here in the seattle area.

He has told me that in the last two weeks he had 6 deals lined up and all 6 failed due to the fact that the buyers could not get financing.

Real estate may be local, but the buying and selling of CREDIT is national.

Anonymous said...

To all the trolls that say "but the market is up for the year" I give you this quote after today's market close:

"The sell-off wiped out all of the S&P 500's gains for the year."

DOW is next!! Only 500 points to go, i.e. just a few more days like today & the DOW is just as crispy as all the realtwhores who are toast!!

Anonymous said...

LONG yen and USD, SHORT everything else!!

Anonymous said...

CFC DOWN 13%

GAME

SET

MATCH

edd browne said...

I would like to see federal and
state statutes defining a crime
of "failure to educate", for when
a child's circumstances were so
onerous that education was not
'enabled'.

Yes, you can't make a kid learn,
but the parents or institutions
must lead them to the water, or
pay a price.

Then things like subprime/alt-a
foreclosures would be smaller problems.

Anonymous said...

Take a peek at 3 mo treasury. The rush for liquidity is on.

Anonymous said...

countrywide is in big trouble. Merril Lynch bailing on them with the move from "BUY" to "SELL SELL SELL"...rumors of bankruptcy protection
Friday will be special for them

Anonymous said...

Where is our blog leader when we need him...

I can't wait to see what Obi-wan-Keith-oh-no-be comes up with when he gets back.

So how's everyone feeling who told them to get out of US equities this year....???

Anonymous said...

Still pissed that gold shares are getting pounded with the rest of the market though!

burn baby burn said...

Countrywide Falls; Merrill Cites Bankruptcy Prospect

I have said when Countrywide goes under no one will question there is a problem. Now it looks like they are going down. I will say they are not going down without a fight. To use a sports analogy they need help from another Team to make the playoffs; Countywide does not control their own destiny. If the lending market gets worse Countrywide will get pulled down with the others. Which it certainly looks like September could get very ugly. Well I am also off for vacation see you all after Labor Day.


http://tinyurl.com/2nscg5

Anonymous said...

The market is slowly drifting downward as the insiders exit and sell to collect all that great liquidity. Once the VIP lounge is empty the support will disappear and the fire alarm will go off. That should drive the sheep into the fleecing gates where the VIPs will be waiting to buy wool at pennies on the dollar. This time the sheep will end up naked and homeless.

robert said...

Who moved my iphone?

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine way layed me in the grocery store desperate for information on ARM's because his resets in October and he is scared. He told me what terms he had, and it wasn’t pretty, basically he's just one of many who will just be walking away! I gave him all the info and options that I could. After all, I'm not a finance expert, just a loyal HP'er who's picked things up along the way.
I feel his plight, but I also had this almost uncontrollable urge to tell him to put his head between his legs and kiss his a## goodbye!

Anonymous said...

Go Aussie!

http://tinyurl.com/ytg5fk

Investors in Australia's worst-affected hedge fund, Basis Capital's Yield Fund, were told yesterday by the fund's Sydney-based manager that they were now likely to lose more than 80 per cent of their money because of the sub-prime meltdown.

Anonymous said...

"all my friends, family, coworkers are talking about it as if they all new/saw it was coming."

They saw it coming but still called us fools and purchased a home??

Anonymous said...

Yah, where is the 'Dope'?!

How's your 7.1% YTD return looking now you f*cksh*t? Your interest only mortgage on the verge of resetting?

LMAO

DOPE!

Anonymous said...

Anyone is refinances or applies for a new home loan these days will not likely be a candidate for foreclosure. With the way lenders are tighting their belts they're making it nearly impossible for B credit buyers to purchase a home. I guess this had to happen to correct the crazy real estate market we all were enjoying for the past several years. - Metro Meme

Anonymous said...

Good thing Mozillo got is 100M plus out...


Brower Piven Announces the Filing of a Class Action Lawsuit Against Countrywide Financial Corp.


2007-08-15 11:44 PT - News Release

BALTIMORE, MD -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/15/07


Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Countrywide Financial Corp. ("Countrywide Financial" or the "Company") (NYSE: CFC) between October 24, 2006 and August 9, 2007, inclusive (the "Class Period").

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period the Company violated federal securities laws by issuing various materially false and misleading statements that had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the Company's securities and causing Class members to overpay for the securities.

Anonymous said...

dopes!

Thought I would fill in for that bozo that is long the markets.

LOL!!!!!!!

Lower lows and lower highs.

Anonymous said...

SAA-WEEET BAYBEEEE JESUS--

This really could be the BIIG one peeps. Just read an article on Market Watch, seriously telling people to get prepared NOW for the worse case scenario, -get CASH because the banks-lots of them, are very likely to be closed down, and even those with FDIC coverage will take forever to pay out.

YIIIIKES Mannnnnn

Anonymous said...

the "no closing cost refi" by countrywide may very well be true. B of A has the same deal going on now - sounded too good to be true, but actually is (was anyway) - right down to the free appraisal. Of course, I found this out because I went thru with all their loan processing, hoping to buy a different home. surprise, the whole thing fell out because we can't give our house away (forget that it's a Lindal cedar, perfect, and priced at $185/sq ft, and 20% under zillow's est. Good thing we don't have to sell, just wanted to move closer to work. Times are tough....

Anonymous said...

NEWS from here in Columbus, Ohio...

Interviewing people on the street, We asked people the following question. 'What do you think is going to happen, now that the housing bubble has popped?'

Gary - a retired man in his 60's said, "A lot of builders are going out of business."

Paula - a recently laid off mortgage broker said, "I'm falling back on my night job, you can come and see me on stage tonight at The XXX Bar on High St. [a men's night club]."

Frank - a gas station owner in a nicer subburb said, "Now that we are getting more drive-off's, we're switching to 24 hour pre-pay on all the pumps."

Sam - a 38 year old hotdog vendor operating in front of a big box home center on Saturday afternoon said, "Uhh dude, what's a housing bubble? And uhh, where did all my customers go?"

Tiffiny - a 29 year old dental assistant said, "Does that bubble thing have anything to do with why my mortgage payments keep going up?"

Maria - a 26 yr old waitress said, "My mom's house is being foreclosed on now, so my kids and I are going to have to find a place to rent soon."

WOW! Lots of people out there feel the effects of the popping bubble, but lots of the sheeple are dazed, confused and just plain ignorant of basic financial news.

-- Joe Dennis, reporting from the street in front of the State Capital at Broad & High.

Anonymous said...

I tell you my CountryWide PUTS will probably pay for my next house. Which is a good thing since there will not be anyone left to lend money when this is over.

Anonymous said...

About a week ago I encountered something I knew but all of my friends never though they'd see... a real estate agent from Century 21, going DOOR TO DOOR. "Interested in buying or selling?"... "No thanks, I rent"... "Here's my card, pass it along to friends"

By the way, I live in 90039, maybe the higest appreciating area of the City of LA over 10 years, has to be 500%. Uh oh for them.

Anonymous said...

Oh Trooo-ooolllsss. Trooo-ooolllsss. Here Trolly-Trolly-Trolly. Come out come out wherever you are!

Anonymous said...

Guess what HP'ers, if the poop totally hits the fan, this is taking the economy down too. Will you gloat at your demise?

Anonymous said...

Dam Countrywide really is going down maybe this month. Knew I should have bought more than 100000 PUTS on the orange one.

Oh well that should buy a nice house can't be to greedy.

Anonymous said...

I just talked to a friend who bought a condo in southern California in 2005 with an adjustable rate mortgage. Obviously, he realizes it was a bad investment.

Here is the thing, his bank has offered him a 6.75 fixed rate, 30 year refi for 500.00 dollars!! That is it, no other fees!

I made the comment the bank would not be making that offere unless they were scared shitless that everyone was going to default!

Anonymous said...

My house sale in Buffalo, where the market is still good, closes the end August. Every night I go to bed praying that we make it to the closing date!

I will never be so happy as I will to be rid of this property. Don't get me wrong, I am making a ton of money on it. I just want it in my hand!

Anonymous said...

KWEEFER you picked a shitty week for a vacation brutha.

Anonymous said...

Moody's, a leading rating agency, said it downgraded Countrywide Financial's senior debt ratings to Baa3 from A3. Baa3 is the lowest investment-grade rating. All of Countrywide's ratings remain under review for further downgrade

Anonymous said...

MSN on top of the slowdown, Yay!

http://tinyurl.com/274x27

Anonymous said...

all hell is breaking loose and keith is on a cruise....keith, you are now officially recalled to base....

Anonymous said...

1929

Anonymous said...

1929

Anonymous said...

where is dopes?

Anonymous said...

today on cnbc on squawk on the street, mark haines was about to go to commercial and he thought it was a countrywide commercial and he started talking and suddenly erin broke in and told him that countrywide had cancelled all their advertising on cnbc......

oh my.

gee , ya think?????

Anonymous said...

Who needs a mortgage lender anyways?

Just additional costs that don't amount to much for the home debter.

Problem is, what *good*, *sustainable* jobs will there be for most of the CountryWide personnel that will soon be laid off like the rest?

Too much of our economic growth was based on housing, now we'll see just how "creative" we are in pulling the economy through these very tough times ahead for so many.

Anonymous said...

Countrywide just got $11 BILLION to get them through this blip, from banks because their business model is so strong.

Record profits at Fod, GM, Toyota, United and Delta!

Record employment numbers, a surging economy, and lower gas prices.

Some crash!

DOPES

Anonymous said...

Did anyone notice the action of the PPT (Plunge Protection Team) in the last minutes of trading (US Market)?

Anonymous said...

ok folks, its over now. the markets have had their ten percent correction and now it is full steam ahead. no worries mate. everything is just fine...move alone people. there is nothing to see here....move along....

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Anonymous said...

Well folks this is getting ugly fast. Most of us thought it was bad, we never dreamed it would unravel this fast though. T-Bills for me.

Frank R said...

My neighbors across the street, also renters, are moving. They were paying $3,800 for a house that would cost $8,000/month to "buy" on a 30-year loan (i.e. rent from a bank). The landlord, instead of trying to rent it out, is moving into it and selling their primary residence.

I guess they're tired of having $4,200 negative cash flow ... and since our house is bigger and we're only paying $3,500 in rent and rents are still dropping, they'd be lucky to get $3,200 for that house, let alone $3,800 rent.

And to think they "own" it for $8,000/month ... fools!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Countrywide just got $11 BILLION to get them through this blip, from banks because their business model is so strong.

Record profits at Fod, GM, Toyota, United and Delta!

Record employment numbers, a surging economy, and lower gas prices.

Some crash!

DOPES

August 16, 2007 9:18 PM
-----------
OMG, unbelievable CFC moving to totally drain a line of credit before rates are jacked through the roof or worst its taken from them and touted as a very bad sign by everyone else in the financial universe and your saying this is a positive sign??? Guess what they are only going to loan it in 417k pieces and to prime buyers, because those are the only loans moving right now, and how long will that keep CFC going?!! Not long my friend, not long at all, pretty soon Orangzillo will be hanging out with you in an orange jumper.

PS - its spelled "F-O-R-D" not fod, and they suck. My father worked for them, he told me never to own one and I screwed up and bought a Lincoln, only to find out it was just a Ford w/ a different label but the same cheap worthless overpriced cr@p underneath. The only profits they make are on fools who do not realize that they are just junk.

Anonymous said...

"HPers-After all the debate about Deflation,or Inflation I think we have a winner. Deflation"

Do you even know what inflation means shankenomics? Money supplies around the world were growing an average of 14% even before this latest round of emergency liquidity injections. Anyone who thinks that leads to deflation is just plain stupid. The central banks are going to inflate away this little blip, and you and I will pay for it through increased prices and taxes. Average house prices will be higher two years from now than they are today.

And all of you HPers squealing with glee over Countrywide and predicting its imminent collapse are fools. There is no way the Fed will allow Mozilo and the boyz to go bust. They are too big to fail and they will get whatever funds are needed to cover their ass. And oh yeah, the big 8/16 redemption-day market meltdown - IT NEVER HAPPENED! The PPT stepped in to fix the market, and once again dashed your dreams of Armageddon.

When will you HP fools learn? DON'T FIGHT THE FED!

Anonymous said...

"Most of us thought it was bad, we never dreamed it would unravel this fast though. T-Bills for me."

T-Bills? WTF, over. Maybe yen or yuan, but don't be dumb and buy T-Bills. Better yet, get some EFT gold 'cause inflation is going to eat your lunch and dinner too. By the time the dust settles on this mess, there will be a cool $2-4 trillion extra in circulation worldwide. The dollar will be 10%-20% lower.

Anonymous said...

AnanyTroll said: Countrywide just got $11 BILLION to get them through this blip, from banks because their business model is so strong.

Record profits at Fod, GM, Toyota, United and Delta!

Record employment numbers, a surging economy, and lower gas prices.

Some crash!

DOPES


So what do you make of all the talk of "subprime meltdown" that's being talked about non-stop on all the financial news networks?

Anonymous said...

DOPES must be getting screwed in this market. bwahahaha. Hey DOPES guy, time to buy CFC stocks, real estate, and a POS Ford. Maria "Lend Me Your Corporate Jet" Bartoramo said so.

Note to PPT: you can try to pull this market up with your pathetic last hour buys (like yesterday and probably today) as much as you want, because this mofo is going down anyway. Nobody is buying your PPT pathetic scheme anymore...you can pull the market on Friday by printing money, just to collapse on Monday. Give it up, HeliBen!

Burn Baby Burn.

Anonymous said...

Hooo-wee, Australian dollar is in the toilet...next the American dollar.

Anonymous said...

"Wonderful Analysts" from Wall Street: I heard that Wal-Mart is hiring...oops, sorry, but sales are sucking there too. Watch out for the avalanche of pink slips coming...good luck!

"Pink slips hit Wall St.; Bear Stearns pares 240

After years of record bonuses and strong hiring, it may be time for Wall Street professionals to hunker down for more trying times.

LONDON (CNN) -- Job cuts have begun at Bear Stearns and that could mark the start of a broader wave of layoffs across Wall Street as firms survey the damage caused by the recent downturn in financial markets.

Some 240 employees at a Bear Stearns lending unit were laid off Wednesday, according to a company spokesperson.

The pink slips come a little more than a month after two of the firm's hedge funds blew up, ultimately costing Bear Stearns co-president Warren Spector his job.

The meltdown in financial markets is likely to lead to more job cuts on Wall Street, headhunters say.

Anonymous said...

Helloo, IndyMac...you so quiet lately? Wassuuuuppp??!!??