April 10, 2008

The 2008 HousingPANIC Award Nominees (first draft)

Here's the nominees, as determined by our stellar committee (i.e. me). I'll post the categories one by one as HP polls on the right hand sidebar after you add your two cents and help me firm these up. Maximum five nominees per category.

No voting now - but chime in on the list - who'd I miss, who's there that shouldn't be? And what other categories and nominees should I consider?

MOST FU*KED BUILDER
1) Toll
2) Beazer
3) KB Home
4) Hovnanian
5)

MOST FU*KED LENDER
1) Countrywide
2) WaMu
3) IndyMac
4) Wells Fargo
5) CIT Financial

MOST FU*KED INVESTMENT BANK
1) Merrill Lynch
2) Citigroup
3) JP Morgan Chase
4) Morgan Stanley
5) Goldman Sachs

(note - Bear Stearns already won, so this is really for 2nd place)

HP LIFETIME REIC HALL OF SHAME
1) Angelo Mozilo
2) David Lereah
3) Alan Greenspan
4) Lawrence Yun
5)

MOST DISCREDITED REIC HACK
1) Kendra Todd
2) Greg Swann
3) Nicholas Retsinas
4) Mike Norman
5) Connie De Groot
6) Tom Adkins
7) Leslie Appleton-Young
8)

(Such a wide-open category, with so many losers, where do we even start?)


WORST REIC TV SHOW
1) MTV Cribs
2) Flip That House
3) House Hunters
4) Housing Ladder
5)

WORST REIC-POODLE TV CHANNEL
1) Fox News
2) HGTV
3) Learning Channel
4) MTV
5)

MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT
1) Alphonso Jackson (HUD)
2) Hank Paulson (Treasury)
3) Shelia Bair (FDIC)
4) Ben Bernanke (Fed)
5)

POLITICIAN MOST CORRUPTED BY REIC MONEY
1) Hillary Clinton
2) Christopher Dodd
3) Harry Reid
4) Nancy Pelosi
5) Chuck Schumer

MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET
1) UK
2) Ireland
3) Spain
4) Bulgaria
5)

MOST F*CKED US MARKET
1) Phoenix
2) Las Vegas
3) Sacramento
4) Miami
5)

LEAST TRUSTED REIC PROFESSION
1) realtor
2) Mortgage Broker
3) Appraiser
4) Lender
5) Builder

BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)
1) Housing Doom
2) Patrick.net
3) CNBC Reality Check
4) Dr. Housing Bubble
5) ML Implode
6)

BEST GURU
1) Christopher Thornberg
2) Robert Shiller
3) Peter Schiff
4) David Rosenberg
5) Nouriel Roubini
6) Stephen Roach

HP HERO
1) Peter Schiff
2) David Walker
3) Ron Paul

FAVORITE FUTURE JAIL-BIRD
1) Casey Serin
2) Angelo Mozilo
3) David Crisp
4)

WORST POLITICAL PARTY
1) Democrats
2) Republicans

MOST DISCREDITED REAL ESTATE BLOG
1) Reality Times
2) Active Rain
3) Bloodhoung Blog
4) Real Estate Tomato
5) FirstRung
6)

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol! realtor... with a lower-case r!

Anonymous said...


BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)
1) Housing Doom
2) Patrick.net
3) CNBC Reality Check
4) Dr. Housing Bubble
5) ML Implode


What about Ben's BORING blog?

Oh wait... nevermind. I answered my own question.

Russ DoGG said...

MOST FU*KED BUILDER:

definitely Beazer. I read about how deficient their houses were & how they were developing water/mold problems because of inadequate foundations (not roof leaks).

MOST FU*KED INVESTMENT BANK
Bear Sterns who already is gone?

HP LIFETIME REIC HALL OF SHAME:
Did you want to include donald Trump?
Trump Tower Las Vegas has already began working on the gold facade!
A lot of "Trump" buildings are not really being developed by Trump but rather branded and marketed by him.-- Isn't that the stamp of phoniness/shame?


MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT
Greenspan? Mike Brown (FEMA formerly)?


MOST F*CKED US MARKET: Southwest Florida was mighty bubbly, too.

BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)
Housing Bubble Hall of Shame®:
http://realestaterecord.blogspot.com/

HP HERO:
Homeowners against deficient dwellings? called out many of the most shameful builders.

ACORN (who protested at the Cleveland Countrywide execs house- calling him out personally on loansharking).

Anonymous said...

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MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET nÂș 5 - Lisbon, Portugal, where monthly rent is more expensive than monthly mortgage payments, 50 year mortgages are common (and finishing your payments at 80 years of age), capital city with less inhabitants than in 1930, with over 200,00 vacant homes but no price decrease.

PJ

Anonymous said...

Can I nominate "My House is Worth What?" for worst TV show?

I mean, come on....it has Kendra Todd, it has realtors, it has "homeowners" who act like flippers, and everybody makes like 100k per year appreciation on their oh-so-desirable real estate just because they have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

It doesn't get any "better" than that.

EconomicDisconnect said...

I am a bit biased, but the bubble blog "Economic Disconnect" is totally wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Many of those names in the lists will soon grace the roles of the new 'shakers and movers' of the newest bubble.
Why do I keep seeing the names of the old LTCM & Drexel hacks keep popping up as of late?
Same as it always was.....

Anonymous said...

For TV Shows you forgot "My House Is Worth What?" hosted by Kendra Todd. In my opinion this is the worst thing going in these times...people get to have a realtor "appraise" their home so that they can know how much of a heloc to take out to finance additional improvements.

Anonymous said...

Peter Schiff is awesome,but Mike Shedlock makes his case too.HMMMMMMMMMM.I'm betting on inflation,and the FEDS need to survive at any cost.
Peter Schiff is the man.
Casey Serin -If he goes to Prison, all that says to me is that as Americans we have all failed.
Worst Party- Any party that seeks votes.Any Party that votes HMMMMMMMMMM,I would rather rip you all off than vote for the dicks that rip me off.

and last but not least............Greg WHO???

Anonymous said...

GREAT List Keith. One oversight,
MOST FU*KED INVESTMENT BANK
And the nominee is....
Lehman Bros. They just bailed out a couple of funds (off balance sheet, of course) that went underwater ( definition: >30 ft and requires decompression when surfacing).... er wasn't there an Investment Bank that did that last year, Bull Bows, I think it was called. And oh yes, they borrowed some capital recently - not because they needed it though, you understand.

I hear them boys really liked those Neg Am products - which thank goodness wasn't to those scummy subprime borrowers.

California Here I Go

Anonymous said...

WORST REIC TV SHOW
I'd like to nominate: 5)My House is Worth What?

WORST REIC-POODLE TV CHANNEL
2) HGTV

MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT
2) Hank Paulson (Treasury)

POLITICIAN MOST CORRUPTED BY REIC MONEY
5) Chuck Schumer

MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET
2) Ireland

MOST F*CKED US MARKET
1) Phoenix

LEAST TRUSTED REIC PROFESSION
2) Mortgage Broker

BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)
4) Dr. Housing Bubble

BEST GURU
2) Robert Shiller

HP HERO
1) Peter Schiff

FAVORITE FUTURE JAIL-BIRD
2) Angelo Mozilo

WORST POLITICAL PARTY
3) Republicrats

MOST DISCREDITED REAL ESTATE BLOG
2) Active Rain

Anonymous said...

How about

Whom would you like to see immediately assasinated? as a category?

Blood in the Streets, Please.

Anonymous said...

You should add to "Best Bubble Blog"

The Housing Bubble Blog
thehousingbubbleblog.com

Ben Jones has all the worldwide news long before the rest of you chime in.

Anonymous said...

MOST FU*KED BUILDER
4) Hovnanian

MOST FU*KED LENDER
1) Countrywide

MOST FU*KED INVESTMENT BANK
2) Citigroup

HP LIFETIME REIC HALL OF SHAME
3) Alan Greenspan

MOST DISCREDITED REIC HACK
6) Tom Adkins

WORST REIC TV SHOW
1) MTV Cribs

WORST REIC-POODLE TV CHANNEL
2) HGTV

MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT
2) Hank Paulson (Treasury)

POLITICIAN MOST CORRUPTED BY REIC MONEY
1) Hillary Clinton

MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET
1) UK

MOST F*CKED US MARKET
5)California

LEAST TRUSTED REIC PROFESSION
1) realtor

BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)
5) ML Implode

BEST GURU
3) Peter Schiff

HP HERO
3) Ron Paul

FAVORITE FUTURE JAIL-BIRD
1) Casey Serin

WORST POLITICAL PARTY
1) Democrats
2) Republicans

MOST DISCREDITED REAL ESTATE BLOG
1) Reality Times

Anonymous said...

MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT

Alphonso Jackson, hands down. not even a close race. deal was sealed when BushCo sent him to China- like putting carmex on a cold sore, it just makes it shiney and more noticeable (hedberg).

as far as guru, it's either Schiff or Mish for me. inflation vs deflation. and w/ the F*cking Robber Baron's (FRB) newfound interest in lending itself money, i think Schiff is going to win that one.

other blog? ML-implode.

did anyone else hear about the lawyer on lawyer violence in the ME? maybe i just dreamt it.

Anonymous said...

-Begin Urgent Public Service Message-

Attention ALL Potential Homebuyers that absolutely must purchase a home and cannot wait for the 50% off sales next year:

1. Find the house you want using NAR resources.

2. Do not contact any real estate agents regarding the property.

3. Contact the owners directly and them show you the property. If the home meets your needs, urge the owners to dump their real estate agent and lower the price by the sales commission amount.

-Return to Housing Crash Programming-

Anonymous said...

Shakster said...

Peter Schiff is awesome,but Mike Shedlock makes his case too.HMMMMMMMMMM.I'm betting on inflation,and the FEDS need to survive at any cost.
Peter Schiff is the man.

Actually, it depends on where you are in life. If you are young and you have lots of time to take chances Schiff is great. Schiff is using the market to make a lot of money right now overseas. If you are close to retirement and you have a sizeable chunk of change and you don't have 20 years to make it back up after it goes south with a 401k at CitiGroup or Goldman or Lehman, then you want Mish and Brian at SitkaPacific. (They also don't charge you a fortune in fees everytime they trade).

We are so sure that Mish is the man that we rolled over all of our Citi 401k to Sitka. Their Absolute Fund is 7% up to date. That is a great return in this environment (and yes we were getting returns at Citi of 28% on our 401k for several years, but all we see are minus signs now). What we have now is the piece of mind that our retirement won't disappear over the next year or two.

So if your looking for fast bucks Schiff can get that for you right now. If you can afford to gamble with your money between deflationistas and inflationistas, Schiff is your guy.

I guess it comes down to who really believes that the economy is going to self destruct and who believes that this is just a temp blip on the radar and a chance to make a fast buck. We don't think this is a temporary blip and we aren't gambling with our retirement. Mish is Obi Wan Kenobi in our book.

We put our money where our mouth is. Thank you HousingPanic.

JaneZ

Anonymous said...

Cutest couple:

President Bush and Suzanne

Anonymous said...

Most F**ked builders. Add condo kings WCI.

Anonymous said...

Erin Burnett. Larry Kudlow. Jim Cramer.

Anonymous said...

LMAO @ you stupid white trash rednecks really did yourselves in this time. Get ready for the Greater Depression, you fat white trash slobs

Anonymous said...

Citigroup is so F_*Ked!

Anonymous said...

How about adding DR Horton for builders and Jim Rogers for guru?

Cheers.

GT said...

i like homeless' category...maybe instead, more pc, 'who should be tarred and feathered tomorrow?' category

i'd also like to see W and cheney, maybe barock, as the choice for something, i'm thinking something negative

Anonymous said...

For WORST REIC TV SHOW, I'd have to say 5) "My House is Worth What" on HGTV, starring the infamous Kendra Todd.

I always find it hilarious when the agent tells the owners what their house is worth and then they usually get all excited, saying that they can now afford to make improvements or whatever...forgetting that even if the house really is worth what the agent says, resulting in positive equity, the only way to get that equity out is either a loan (such as a HELOC or refinancing), or by selling the house.

GT said...

what about
worst bailout plan?
a) hope now
b) better future
c) we can do this

Anonymous said...

Ron Paul is my #1 HP hero. I wish everyone would read his books and I wish every American schoolkid would study Ron Paul's writings and the writings of the founding fathers. Maybe then there would be some hope for the future of America.

But here's another HP hero on Kudlow:

John Brown

Saying the same things about the Fed and depreciating currency that Ron Paul would say but it sounds so much cooler in his very proper British accent.

Casey Serin said...

Vote Serin for Favorite Future Jail-bird. I'm the face of the worldwide recession!! Look at all you suckers working, while I live on easy street and get coddled by my Mommy and Daddy.

SWEET DEAL!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, gotta include OC Renter for best Housing Bubble Blog.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, Ben and his troop of yes-man (plus the Chinese chick trader from TX) didn't make the list.

Listing Ref said...

I would like to add the following nominees.


Worst REIC TV SHOW:
Flip this house (similar to flip that house) http://www.aetv.com/flipthishouse/


WORST REIC-POODLE TV CHANNEL:
TLC

MOST F*CKED US MARKET:
South Florida

HP HERO:
Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Anonymous said...

Can I nominate "My House is Worth What?" for worst TV show?

Yes you can and you beat me to it. I always throw up in my mouth when that Kendra hack pulls prices out of her arse and the f*cked homedebtors get hysterical.

Anonymous said...

MOST FU*KED INVESTMENT BANK
- add Lehman (LEH) to the list

WORST REIC TV SHOW
- don't forget "What's My House Worth ?!?!

BEST GURU
- don't leave out Eric Janszen from iTulip.com

Anonymous said...

What, no Gary Watts???

goldsheet said...

MOST F*CKED US MARKET

Instead of Sacramento, I would nominate:
San Diego or Riverside County

Worst city would be Stockton, CA.

Anonymous said...

"WORST REIC TV SHOW"

There's a new entrant for this category, "Date My House", where would-be buyers get to live in the house short term for something like a disco party before making a decision to buy or not.

Anonymous said...

MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET

*Definitely Germany*

This is the surprise that will take down the rest of the EU.

But; but; Germany and Holland have uber-engeneered lending rules and regulations.

Precisely the reason it will not have a ‘soft landing’ but an uber-engeneered massive and sudden crash.

Fundamentals: Germany has the largest income to Housing price gap.

Nuff said, now start the denial.

Anonymous said...

remember there is a "Flip THIS House" and a "Flip THAT House", two different shows

WORST REIC TV SHOW
1) MTV Cribs
2) Flip That House
3) House Hunters
4) Housing Ladder
5)

Anonymous said...

How about:
WORST REAL ESTATE AGENT?
1) Margaret Kelly

Oh, MOST FU*KED LENDER
1) New Century Financial

WineRex

Anonymous said...

MOST FU*KED BUILDER

Hovnanian

MOST FU*KED LENDER

*All are equally worthless.

MOST FU*KED BANK

Citigroup
Bank of America
*

HP LIFETIME REIC HALL OF SHAME

Angelo Mozilo
Alan Greenspan
Dumbya

MOST DISCREDITED REIC HACK

Greg Swann

WORST REIC TV SHOW

Flip That House
Flip This House

WORST REIC-POODLE TV CHANNEL

HGTV
CNBC

MOST INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO IS NOT THE PRESIDENT

Hank Paulson
Ben Bernanke (Fed)
BUCKSHOT DICK

POLITICIAN MOST CORRUPTED BY MONEY

Hillary Clinton
Barney Frank

MOST FU*KED INTERNATIONAL HOUSING MARKET

UK
China
Spain

MOST F*CKED US MARKET

All of CA

LEAST TRUSTED REIC PROFESSION

1) realtwhore®
2) Mortgage Broker
5) Builder

BEST BUBBLE BLOG (BESIDES HP)

doctorhousingbubble.com

BEST GURU

First developed by Karl Case and Robert Shiller, this methodology collects data on single-family home re-sales, capturing re-sold sale prices to form sale pairs. This index family consists of 20 regional indices and two composite indices as aggregates of the regions.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are calculated monthly and published with a two month lag. New index levels are released at 9am Eastern Standard Time on the last Tuesday of every month.


HP HERO

Ron Paul
Andrew Jackson

FAVORITE FUTURE JAIL-BIRD
1) Casey Serin
2) Angelo Mozilo
3) David Crisp

Nailed it.

WORST POLITICAL PARTY
1) Democrats
2) Republicans

Yep.

MOST DISCREDITED REAL ESTATE BLOG

Bloodhound Blog

Paul E. Math said...

This is not exactly a blog and it's focus ventures outside housing but I go to prudentbear.com daily. Between that, HP and patrick.net, I know all I need to know in the world of economics.

Can I also recommend boston.redsox.mlb.com?

Refuse to buy overpriced said...

I've been waiting years to vent like this!

F'ed builder - K. Hovnanian
Inventor of the McMansion
Was it worth seizing people's homes with eminent domain abuse, to build those condo's which will never sell?
The only people buying Hovnanian homes right now are Hovnanian employees.

Hall of Shame - Dr. Price Fix, Mark Zandi, chief architect of the bailout

Discredited Hack - Robert Kiyosaki
How can anyone trust a man who will sell a board game for $500?
Thank you for training the useless, parasitic rentier class in this country. You are a real patriot. I bet your actual father is ashamed of you.

Worst Show - flip that house

Worst Channel - HGTV

Most Corrupted Politician - Chuck Schumer. Watch Bernanke's testimony from last week; There is no question about it, Schumer is the leader of the bailout. And Ted Kennedy acted like a complete buffoon.

Best Bubble Blog - Patrick.net is the best bubble blog, including HP.
1. I can't tell the folks at church to check out HP, but Patrick stays on topic and doesn't call realtors "whores". Never call a woman a name online if you wouldn't have the guts to say the same thing in person. Many realtors are nice people, just a little brainwashed.
2. Also, I like Patrick's link to "Stop the Mortgage Bailout" online petition. The bailout will only happen if we the American people let it happen.

Best Guru - Robert Schiller. His inflation adjusted graphs changed the way I think about real estate and stocks.

HP Hero - can't choose, Schiff Walker and Paul are all great. Thanks for introducing me to them, HP!

Favorite Future Jailbird - TONY REZKO! Mr. Obama, right now it is "a stretch to buy the house" for the entire American Middle Class. But the rest of us don't have Rezko to help out. Prices need to come down substantially.

Worst Political Party - The question should be, which party has more completely betrayed its own principles?
George Bush wants a balanced budget and Chuck Schumer cares about the working class. Not.
This country is so ready for a 3rd party.

Here's a few more categories:

Most pathetic failed flipper - Solomon Dwek

State with the most politicians in jail because of real estate related corruption - New Jersey

County with the most politicians in jail because of real estate related corruption- Monmouth County

Most corrupt person in NJ - Sharpe James

Most corrupt person in the history of Monmouth County - Philip Konvitz, the man who ruined Asbury Park.

Thank you, FBI, for exposing these crooks. There is still plenty of work for you guys to do.

Anonymous said...

.





MOST F*CKED!



The American Tax Payer!





.

incessant_din said...

Discredited RE Hack:
Gary Watts, of Orange County "in the bag" fame

incessant_din said...

Also worthy of mention for best bubble blogs are:
Bubble Markets Inventory Tracking
Sacramento Real Estate Statistics/Flippers in Trouble

More along the lines of exposing fraud and some wonderful specific examples of specuvestors getting reamed.

Anonymous said...

So many choices keefer. Well at least HPers know how to follow directions and have the attention span longer than the average realtor to be able to answer this properly.

-BC

Anonymous said...

This is great dose of reality!

Cnbc wont do it! And they dont want you to know the truth!

Here is some more truth if you can handle it....Coming soon...depression!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AdRBcAmzlLI

Anonymous said...

My House is Worth What? certainly needs to be on the list and has my vote. The dumb calculations on the cheap calculators along with the stupid looks for the moment of "discovery" made me puke on the first episode.

Anonymous said...

most f*cked international market - you forgot Australia dude!

blogger said...

travelling one more day but two new categories for your consideration and nominees today:

Favorite HP poster

Stupidest HP "looser"

Anonymous said...

I'm a bitter renting loser because

a) I live at home with mom and dad
b) I can't get laid
c) I'm fat
d) I'm obese
e) I'm divorced
f) all of the above

Anonymous said...

"Favorite HP poster

Stupidest HP "looser"

Frank for both.

Anonymous said...

Favourite HP poster: Andrew Hac

'Looser' HP poster: Of course, this would have to be: ANONYMOUS!

-BC

Anonymous said...

My favorite character of the housing bubble was the 'Armando' dude. His only competitor in the 'arrogance' category was the spaghetti-haired punk on Faux News. Armando had an immediate answer for every question posed by the world. He was beautifully puffed up when some media guy asked him to give seminars...he looked like a silverback in search of poontang. Is he still on TV?

Anonymous said...

The best:

Andrew Hac
Blowfly
Buzz Saw
Happy Homedebtor
Mammoth
Your Jewish Master

The worst:
Anonymous
Blowfly

Keith, can you look up some greatest hits from the archives for the nominees?

Anonymous said...

I guess it comes down to who really believes that the economy is going to self destruct and who believes that this is just a temp blip on the radar and a chance to make a fast buck. We don't think this is a temporary blip and we aren't gambling with our retirement. Mish is Obi Wan Kenobi in our book.

We put our money where our mouth is. Thank you HousingPanic.

JaneZ_________________________________________________

Shakster sez COOL.
I like Mish,and can see his side,but I am a gambler for sure.

Anonymous said...

BTW ,Since Mish is Obi Wan Kenobi,then Schiff is Han Solo. That would mean Yoda has to be ........I do not know,but George Bush is Jabba The HUT,and I am Blacky A-Street,Porn Star.

Anonymous said...

i dont know if you can do a poll on it, but how bout something with house price/median household income ratios?

In my rathole town its about a 9:1

Anonymous said...

The Grand Prize of the Generation goes to republicans and conservatives for their role in creating this greed-based, ignorance-rich culture of jerks, idiots and scammers.

Hope you all enjoy it. After all, many of you on here voted for it.

Here's to the starvation of your children!

Anonymous said...

Here are some additions per your request:


Most Fkd Builder: LEVITT AND SONS
Most Fkd Market: MEMPHIS METRO AREA
Best Bubble Blog: housingbubblebust.com

Anonymous said...

Best HPer:

Mammoth (he visits my blog too, so he has good taste;)
Dopes
FMW (MIA)
Casey Serin
Anon

Worst:
Blowfly (Sorry Blowfly, you know it's true)
Anon

Anonymous said...

Where's AZ Republic's star reporter Catherine Reagor? Don't know what catagory she would fit into, but she has to be put on the list.

Anonymous said...

you guys got any more information on germanys real estate market? anon 9:46 you maybe?

Anonymous said...

http://realestaterecord.blogspot.com/

Needs to be on the best bubble blog -- truly entertaining and good for a laugh.

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