February 01, 2008

HousingPANIC Quote of the Day


"American consumers acted as if they won the lottery if they owned a home. They were borrowing and spending trillions of dollars because they believed this home equity was real. Well now they're waking up to the fact that it was an illusion."

-Peter Schiff, January 2008

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

YEP. No need to add to Mr. Schiff's comments. 'nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Diana,

http://www.cnbc.com/id/22950993

I'm in love with you even more now!!

Anonymous said...

Like the NASDAQ bubble, it was only a lottery for those who got in and out early. Anyone who stayed around too long or went back for seconds, got crushed.

Anonymous said...

I'm reading Crash Proof for the second time and it's only now that the depth of this economic calamity is really sinking in to my feeble brain.

Like Ron Paul said, this is a new era in American history. It's the turning point where the US will no longer be the world's economic superpower. In fact, the era has already arrived it's just that most people have not realised it yet. The US will have to shut down it's aggressive militaristic interventionist foreign policy as a matter of necessity. The Ponzi schemes won't keep the dollar afloat any longer.

Banana Republic, without the Bananas or the Republic

http://tinyurl.com/3b92vx

Frank R said...

I never understood how people thought they were "cashing out their equity" when in reality they were just taking out loans, and bad loans at that.

Where did they get the idea that it wouldn't have to be repaid?

I'm not a big Suze Orman fan but I love when she points out that home equity debt is so bad, you're better off taking on credit card debt.

What a bunch of DOPES to think they weren't going to have to pay all that "cashed out equity" back!

CalisDead said...

My dream would be to become a Debtor Official Gestapo (DOG) where I could kick down the doors of the spoiled ah***s who got off thinking they were wealthy investors and moguls for doing NOTHING but having the classic American pr*ck attitude and greed, and of course signing their name to a bunch of documents.

Oh the pleasure when I inventory all the goodies they bought, and have it all taken away. The joy to be felt dragging them out of their homes while debating if I should sell off the wives to pay back the mortgage or to just throw both in debtors prison. Their children would benefit too, seeing mommy and daddy are losers and acting in greed and vanity hurts. I'd do it all for the children. I better quit before I strap on my jackboots and march around my rental home.

Anonymous said...

I am willing to bet my not considerable fortune, 250k, that things are going to go badly.

Why would I not? Do you want to hear stories about how stupid my Merrill Lynch broker is? I could tell them. Who cares?

Me, I am too stupid to buy Euros etc. I'll just sit on my dough and rent. What do I care? I am not out to impress you, your loose sister or the Pope.

Let's just see how it all plays out. I might lose a bit, even quite a bit, by hanging on to my cash. But consider the alternatives. I could have bought a $375,000, cool and groovy, house here in Las Cruces.

Which would you rather have, a note for $125k and a groovy view or pay $800 a month for a quiet little house?

Fuck these morons. I am fine. They are fucked. I am not a really smart guy, but they are fucked.

Anonymous said...

At least in Vegas you get free drinks while you're losing money.

Anonymous said...

At least in Vegas you get free drinks while you're losing money.

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

my realtor brings me xmas gifts but not this year. I wonder why.

Anonymous said...

Crash Proof is probably the best investment I ever made!

Davey Jones said...

I've gone off Peter Schiff since I saw him on the Daily Show blaming the Democrats for the current stock market woes (!)

Anonymous said...

House lottery? Why not? Baltimore and DC had very successful lotteries for boarded up city-owned houses.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait until these dumb animals called Americans put either Clinton or McShitstain in office and make 50 million third world welfare cases Americans. You think you have it bad now. In a year you have a deppression and all of Mexico to feed clothe house and provide medical care for. Americans will have the lowest living standards on the planet. Viva la dumbas gringos.

Anonymous said...

The victim mentality is now sweeping the nation's 'underwater investors' -- especially with the lawyers smelling blood in the water.

You can be sure they're 'coaching' their clients to avoid mentioning that their primary reason for jumping into the NAR Ponzi scheme was greed.

Let the legal games begin!

Anonymous said...

Here's an interesting interview with Jim Rogers, by phone from Singapore:

"I'm extremely worried," he says. "I have been for a while, but I just see things getting much worse this time around than I expected." To Rogers, a longtime Fed critic, Bernanke's decision to ride to the market's rescue with a 75-basis-point cut in the Fed's benchmark rate only a week before its scheduled meeting (at which time they cut it another 50 basis points) is the latest sign that the central bank isn't willing to provide the fiscal discipline that he thinks the economy desperately needs.

http://tinyurl.com/3xvqa5

Anonymous said...

Pleas forgive this slightly of topic post.
Sub Prime Collateral Damage
Banking giant blocks 160,000 customers' credit cards in crackdown on out-of-control debts (Daily Mail UK)
By BECKY BARROW and JAMES CONEY - » Last updated at 11:13am on 2nd February 2008

Customers are spending over their credit limit or failing to make even minimum repayments
A banking giant is banning 160,000 debt-ridden customers from using their credit cards.
They will receive letters in the next few days warning them their Egg credit cards will stop working in 35 days' time.
It is the first time a credit card company has resorted to such a drastic move to curb over-spending, but others are expected to follow their lead as the global credit crunch tightens its squeeze on the beleaguered banking industry.
If they do follow suit, it could lead to a crisis on the high street, because credit card spending has fuelled the "spend, not save" shopping culture.
Many adults rely on their credit cards to pay for a lifestyle that they cannot afford.
Yesterday Egg said its dramatic move affects 7 per cent of its two million credit card customers.
They are being targeted because they have a "higher than acceptable risk profile", said the company.
This typically means they are spending over their credit limit or failing to make even minimum repayments every month.
P.S. What % of today’s credit card debt will never be repaid?. Will AMEX be the next?

Anonymous said...

the central bank isn't willing to provide the fiscal discipline that he thinks the economy desperately needs.

The two words, fiscal and discipline, should never be used together in a sentence with the word government. The result would not even be part of the english language.