[BUMP]
I saw HP as a story that needed to be told.
It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. A struggle against the powerful. A voice for the common man. A fight of good vs. evil. And it wasn't just HP. It was HousingDoom. And BubbleTracker. And Calculated Risk. And Patrick.net. And Bubble Meter. And Dr. Housing Bubble. And Mish. And Denninger. And Schiff. And Roubini. And oh so many more.
We won, there's no doubt about that. The REIC, including realtors, builders, bankers, mortgage brokers and appraisers, has been discredited. George Bush is seen as the worst US president of all time. Swann, Retsinas, Norman, Todd, Atkins, De Groot and all the rest are embarrassed. Our Congress is wildly unpopular. Home prices have crashed. The stock of any company associated with real estate is in the tank (along with most others). And people who treated homes as lottery tickets got destroyed.
But at the same time, in some ways, we lost. Taxpayer dollars have gone straight into the pockets of housing gamblers, fraudsters and immoral bankers. The world economy is collapsing. The criminals are not in jail. Greedy realtors still make their commissions. And the MSM keeps reporting lies.
I'm tempted to pull the plug on HP on November 5, 2008, our three-year anniversary, as planned. I honestly haven't made a final decision. I think I'm going to wait to see how the election turns out, and then go from there.
HousingPANIC and AmericaPANIC were voices of opposition. And when you're in the minority, when you're in opposition, you have passion, and a raison d' être. When you become mainstream, your predictions come true, and the majority comes your way, then your passion recedes. And that's OK.
First they ignore you,
then they ridicule you,
then they fight you,
then you win.
It's been an honor HP'ers.
November 04, 2008
HousingPANIC and AmericaPANIC might end in a few hours. Our work here might be done.
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161 comments:
What a wild ride it's been.
Nope.. when the fear of Bush is gone the work must first begin. "Perp walks" remember!!! Then you may go!!!
Thanks a lot Keith. Great, great stuff.
Right wrong indifferent, I personally want to thank you for your frank forthright thought. Those of us who put our thought in print, and not as an afterthought are to be commended right or wrong.
Many thanks.
Reading this blog (and many of the others you mention) has been like reading tomorrow's paper today. It's helped us prepare for the storm that was coming...
What HPers need now is a similar resource focused on how to ride through the storm (it's going to last a lot longer than we'd like), providing insight & discussion on rebuilding our portfolios and our country.
There's still a big role for leaders like you to play, Keith. Hope you stay actively involved, but if you decide to head off into the sunset, you can go with head high that you've already contributed much more than we could have asked for. Many thanks.
Hope not, Keith. I would miss my daily dose. Not to mention the funny pictures. Perhaps you'll be back in a different incarnation?
Jersey Girl
If you've truly lost your 'fire' then I will understand your departure. It must take a lot of time to do what you do.
But I don't think this is over. Not by a long shot. I do not believe this blog has lost its relevance.
Most people are still defiantly ignorant and those of us who are trying to reduce our ignorance need help.
Where you may have painted yourself into a corner is in your strong endorsement of Barack Obama. While I and the true HPers know that your endorsement will not prevent you from calling him onto the carpet when he makes mistakes, I fear the yahoos who still play 'us v. them' will clutter your 2 blogs relentlessly with partisan taunts. And that would be a shame.
Bullshit Keith. You're not going anywhere. Don't make us draft your ass.
If you do go, thanks for all you did. Don't always agree with you (Obama), but it has been entertaining and I learned a lot from you and others.
Keefer,
you where right about housing.
actually 'right on'
but wrong on America.
(had you moved to Brooklyn, NY instead of Europe, you would have understood the energy that drives this country, and you would have understood that Europe died with WWII and will never recover)
but, over all its been an incredible ride.
and huge respect for posting all my rantings.
as for the rest of HPers you're all a trip.
q
The bubble blog bubble is going to pop!
Thanks for all the work.
ATE-UP SAID:
elfishly but honestly, I think the party is just getting started. Besides, your blog is one of the highlights of my self-inflicted dismal life.
So, do what you think is best, but seriously, I believe the moral hazard and hyper-inflation and/or deflation gig, along with the social riots, is enough reason to stick it out for a while. Where else will we find common sense and truth?
Your friend, and thank you very much if you leave, and best of luck,
Greg a/k/a ATE-UP
P.S. Hell Keith, even Frank doesn't want you to go, I bet.
Don't do it Keith. Casey recently threw in the towel recently! But you're not a quitter so stay with us!
Keith,
Stick around for a wind-down period.
I think you owe it to us loyal visitors to either eat crow, or gloat for a little while.
Whatever you decide it's been a fun read.
Congrats
uh oh, is time time for Qweefer to get a real job?
Please don't play with your readers with this one day ending one day continuing so thank you for all your hard work but make a decision either way and personally I would like you to continue at least through the first hundred day's of either new President but it's your call.
Thanks for a fantastic, educational few years Keith. I kind of agree with you though that now everything is mainstream HPs work is done. It's been a real pleasure reading this blog.
Whatever you decide, you've made it a hell of a lot easier for us contrarians through this insanity. You've certainly saved me thou$and$. Let the next phase begin on Tuesday!
Pull the plug.
Thanks? for the memories.
Come on, Keith. Your work on HousingPanic isn't done yet -- Angelo Mozilo and all the other con artists who screwed America are still walking around free. Without HousingPanic, who lobbies to put those scumbags behind bars? And without HousingPanic, who lobbies to hold the next adminstration accountable? The media? The media will be even more complacent with the next administration than it was with the Bush administration.
The next few years will be critical for America. We need independent voices providing independent information to the public. You have a significant forum and significant credibility from the fact that you've been right time and time again.
The housing panic is still going -- we haven't won anything yet. And fundamental questions have been left unresolved. What effect does the continuing housing crash have on the value of the dollar -- does the dollar continue to increase in value because of deleveraging, as it has recently, or does it crash because of inflation, as Peter Schiff maintains? We aren't even in an "official" recession yet according to the government -- so how can the housing panic be over? It's just getting started.
It's your duty as a sock puppet and an American to keep HousingPanic around -- at least until Mozilo & Friends are held accountable.
Every other week you pull this "I'm leaving" crap. Just go away already.
Please refund my paypal donation if you close-up shop :)
No Keith, no. The jobs ISN'T done. Not at all.
The asshole realtors in my neighborhood (metro NYC environs) are still screeching 'it's different here' and pushing granite counter tops like an scarce illegal drug. The local newspapers sing their stupid song like mynah birds because they don't want the advertising revenues to drop. The local sheeple are on blogs crying their purchase appraisals are down cause they want a HELOC 1-60 days after closing. The retirees are rattling around in their big, empty, overpriced homes because they won;t sell until they 'get their price' and that 'they won't give it away'.
Keith dude, we need you BAD in the northeast. You gotta wait until it's Armageddon all over the US, not just the Inland Empire CA and Florida.
No web site has informed me, entertained me, and ultimately saved me from bad decision making more than HP.com. Thank you Keith for your service, and for what will go down as the most important documented play by play of the past three years. Can't wait for the book. Be well.
You can take HP away if you must - though it would be fun to try to call the bottom. Thank you for giving us hope when everyone else said this was the new reality. It is sad how badly it all ended for everyone. Would have been nice if it just hit the morons. I look forward to following AP to fill the gigantic void that you'll be leaving us with when we can't talk housing anymore.
Wow, the passion has receded.
You think Obama is going to be elected and we are all going to live happily ever after?
Well, all I can say, is this is the best blog ever. Great graphics and headers. (Keith I love you don't go), very intelligent comments, some funny, some angry, some just the great majority of us blowing off steam (tell me where you are, I will get on a plane now)
I feel it has been an honor to have my lame-o comments published, and have learned so much in here. Won't know where to get the info to impress everyone with my great knowledge now (I'm serious Keith, I love Capricorns) and just hope that you can get some rest and will find another creative outlet in time(you are just going to dissapear into cyber-space without so much as a forwarding address?)I will just click on housing panic and watch the the internet cannot display this page notice. Guess I will go ahead and go thru withdrawal(there will never be another Keifer)
Darn.
Yes it really has been an honor to discover this blog and see the alternative (and true) take on financial reality.
Thanks Keith.
Just when you thought it was over, it was only beginning.
its time keith
you have done us all a service which can not be repaid
you were relentless no matter what
insults threats you stared em down and got right into there face
thank you for everything
here in canada we are where you guys were 2 years ago..but the end is indisputable..you might find a read here reminiscent of your situation 2 years ago
http://albertabubble.blogspot.com/
again keith..thank you very very much..and the best of luck my friend
Keith, we have had this discussion before.
Running this blog is a manic exercise. Nobody will begrudge you some rest.
But we still need a forum to deal with the aftermath of the housing collapse, and the collapse isn't even complete yet. Schiff and Roubini will still be around, but I don't get to read them every day with my morning coffee.
I hope you stay on, but all the best to you if you close the blog.
Keith,
What are we going to do without you? I feel like my family and friends have gone mad....They buy into the fucked up Joe the plumber story. They have bought into save the rich the hell with the poor and middleclass(Funny, they fall into upper middleclass)
What are we going to do without you?
Thank you
Thanks (again) folks for the kind words, and even thanks to the trolls for the flames.
You gotta understand, pulling the plug on HP is like pulling the plug on your dog.
But sometimes, you gotta put old yeller down. Sometimes you gotta retire on top, before you overstay your welcome. Sometimes you gotta know when to end the book.
What concerns me is that the REIC would see it as a victory, or an "all clear". Even though we're a gnat on the ass of the powerful REIC, I think the bubble blogs are an important gnat.
But passion comes from struggle, from opposing, from fighting. When you win, it's sweet, but the passion isn't the same. And on Tuesday, I believe I'll feel like we won. And it will be sweet. And I'll feel like the work is done.
HP is and will always be a passion, and I think we can be proud of the work here - the whole community.
HP is addicting, so it's gonna take willpower to walk away. And there will be big news days, like when Mozilo is arrested, that I know I'll want to post. But that'll probably be in the form of "special edition" or "epilogue"
Blogging is a new form, and I don't recall a popular blog shutting down, so there's probably no protocol. But ending it now seems right, and bittersweet.
The panic is over.
Starting Wednesday, it's time to rebuild.
First Opus, now HousingPANIC. Gonna be sad to see some friends move on after the election. Been a rabid fan of HP for years and have enjoyed watching folks as I passed on the wisdom of this blog drop their jaws in a speechless response as the events unfolded. Thanks for the great work Keith, looking forward to whatever blog you work on next.
What do you mean you won? all you guys did was falk yourselves over. Renting and with (0) deductions. I'm a working Realtor. All you did was get rid of the loosers and send a bunch of construction workers back to Mexico. I have been living a great life and will continue to do so thanks to this bailout. So what have you done to me? 1)Reduce my competition 2) Decrease new construction (Helping Inventory 3)Swarm my industry with cheap housing under 417K that are selling like hotcakes. (Thanks) 4)Force the Govt to bailout millions of homeowners into great new payments not available on the open market. The most painfull part might be how you can't get a loan now becasue your cash is gone and your it job is next.. Thanks Housing Panic hate to see you go!
My life is so much better now because of HP. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Damn. Don't you hate it when your worst theories come to pass? Thank you Keith for the blog and your insights. I've enjoyed the stimulation.
Keith,
I only wish I had discovered this blog a few years earlier. I would never have taken a job with Countrywide and started drinking the Real Estate/Mortgage Kool Aid. Although it's been more than two year since I've worked for Mozilo and 6+ months since I've closed a loan, I'm still hurting because of all of this, even though I've moved on to another profession.
I am surprised to hear that you keep speaking of ending HousingPanic. There's no real reason to end the blog unless you're afraid of the Obama Presidency that you've been advocating. There are so many numbers out there to suggest that the average American is still holding on to their fake equity as if it's a lottery ticket that they can't cash in for a couple more years until it "comes back."
Our work is far from done with the condition that the economy is in and the pure idiocy shown by those who have the power to change it.
This blog and the mentality it upholds is still a dirty little secret to main-stream America.
PS, you can end AmericaPanic after the election, no matter what the result, as it only focuses on your support for the 2008 Obama campaign.
The panic is over.
Starting Wednesday, it's time to rebuild.
------------------------------
well, you have always been ahead of the curve. I don't think we have truly reached panic but i don't think that is exactly what you are talking about. we are headed to a depression regardless of who is in the white house.
Just because Obama is going to be in does not mean this sh*t storm is going to stop.
Maybe the next blog should be called survivalpanic.
Problem with closing the blog now gives the whiff of a political agenda all along and not purely housing. But we knew that.
.
flying monkey warrior
Best HP'er award!!!!!!!
Thanx fmw
a w d
Keith,
HP has been a great blog and I hate to see it go. I think with the oncoming recession, home prices will continue to plummet and there is nothing that can stop it. Therefore, the panic is NOT over.
I think opening up the blog AmericaPanic was a good idea, but you made too much of a pro-Democrat forum. As a former Republican, I admit that the party's leadership under Bush has been a disaster and they deserve to lose, but the Democrats are far from perfect. Also, I strongly doubtt that people like Dodd, Reid, Pelosi, and Frank understand the true cause of the housing mess and are more likely to make attempts at price fixing.
At least leave the site up so that if you start a new one in the next few months we know where to find you.
Keith,
Thank you for the time and efforts you have put into this site. For the past two years, I have looked forward to reading it daily. It takes a truly talented individual to operate a one-man-show blog filled with as much witty and relevant information.
I can understand the need to take a break, but don't leave us hangin'! May I suggest guest-blogging elsewhere whenever it strikes your fancy? Just as pro boxers come out of retirement for another fight, the need to "get the word out" with breaking events will come back to haunt you.
In any case, thank you so much, and Godspeed in your endeavors!
What afuckin trip man.3 years gone as if we never needed to live through them.
I remember when it all began,and the way it was received by the public.
We may have been right about it, but I learned alot along the way.Who would have thought anyone could predict the future like that?I'm not taking credit for any predictions, or warnings.I suppose I was using common sense while reading the posts,commentary,and articles of some astute market analysts.It made sense.Goddamn ,what an understatement.
Thanks for the blog Kieth.
But mostly thanks for letting us be ourselves,and not kicking us out for whatever we had to say.
BTW where is Guadelupe Hildalgo 1849,Honica Jewinski,and Mad Mike?
There is still much more of the story to be told.
...you'll be back.
Keith
Are you loading up the guns and food and heading for the hills...Turn your blog over to someone that can carry on the word...your work is not done until the last foreclosure is sold or burned to the ground..
This is a good blog.
You should pass the torch of financial progress to someone else for a while and let them run this puppy.
It will endure in perpetuity as events warrant.
KAGUNGA!
I've been visiting your blog often over the last few years.
A lot of good info can be found here and I thank you that.
It takes a lot of effort to keep this up, so if you decide to leave good luck to you and all the best!
Keith,
I get you, man. Doesn't matter if the housing panic is over, it's that it's proven fact. And the election is just an anniversary and logical time to shut down the blog - interesting things will still happen, of course.
It is not all on HP to bring us through to the bitter end. We all hope the criminals get punished, but that is not really very forward thinking, and forward thinking is one of the hallmarks of HPers. I'll be reading more books, and maybe do some volunteer work.
Always leave 'em asking for more.
So take off, but...let us know which of your favorite blogs you'll be visiting.
Also, I have a two bedroom, 1.5 bath ranch house with plastic siding and stucco and a new granite countertop, chain link fence, off street parking - it's a must-see, charming American Creampuff!!! Only $750,000 reduced from $825k...
There's a "client" born every minute. Hate ya, mean it - Suzanne.
Have you ever actually printed out every page since the beginning?
It must be thousands of pages.
But no kidding, would love to read the whole thing from start to finish.
So where do we get the book?
I wish Matt Drudge would decide to shut down after the election, not you.
Keith, I check HousingPANIC every morning and will sorely miss your informative comments. Hope you will reconsider pulling the plug, but Ill understand if you must. Good luck and happy trails!
'But passion comes from struggle, from opposing, from fighting. When you win, it's sweet, but the passion isn't the same.'
Keith, just get over it. We can't live without you and that sweet feeling will be fleeting, believe me. It always is. Just get some sleep!
Go for it.
I say your last post says nothing more than the words "I told you so"
Keith, I have a confession to make. I am a right wing Republican who has been reading you for three years. I loved your blog for its honesty and humor. You are 100% right about housing and I hope wrong on Obama being elected. Nevertheless, you are not allowed to go anywhere! :) A contrarian viewpoint is needed. Someone to sound the alarm, not just on housing but all areas of life. Your critical thinking has been invaluable to untold numbers who never post comments on your blog. So, don't say goodby. Rather continue your blog on a larger platforum. Sincerely, Affectionately, a Right Wing Republican.
This isn't over by a long-shot.
You're just afraid of what is to come.
You can't go . . . I just discovered you from Ritholtz' site. You have really good stuff!
As veteran Realtor (32 yrs in the biz), I've been mortified by what I've seen over the last five-plus years, and have laid low. First the sickening greed, now the denial by sellers who need to sell, but won't price it according to the market. They just find another agent who will suggest the highest price. Reality won't prevail until there is "blood in the (real estate) streets" and the greed-mongers are living in tents. The Bonfire of the Fake Equity will be even more interestin. Your comments on the way down will be invaluable, so stay with us.
I thought you already said you were shutting down?
I thought you said HP was going to be about RE and AP was going to be about politics?
It doesn't matter, really. You've made a hypocrite of youself many times over already. Why not just admit this is another stunt and you have nothing better to do than keep these blogs going?
Keith is clearing out his desk for his new job with the Obama administration.
Keith,
Stop by in 24 months when we back in the U.S. are in the middle of 1,000 percent a month inflation and people have lost faith in their Black Jesus.
Anyway, I'm deleting all my political URLs including this one because it looks like I'll be in the wilderness for a long while. And I think it's wise for me to stop posting on the Internet.
You see, Obama has promised to create a "Civilian National Security Force" with a budget "equal to" the legitimate military. He didn't say what these millions of Brown Shirts will be doing, but it won't be wise to be posting any kind of an opinion on the Internet once the Obama's personal militia begins searching the Web for enemies of the state.
So if you close this site, can you also delete all 3 years of comments?
Thank you for taking the time to create this blog. It's been a great place to vent.
After you close down HousingPANIC, please remember that you've incurred a moral obligation. Many HPers - currently renting or living with parents, saving and patiently waiting for prices to come down before buying - will, on your recommendation, vote for Obama/Biden and a 60 Democrat Senate. If Obama and his filibuster-proof Senate try to pass a bill designed to "put a floor under housing prices" and rig the housing market against buyers who've saved for a substantial down-payment, I hope to see you in Washington protesting.
Regards,
JCG
Thanks for everything, but it's time to bag it.
This is why:
"...the yahoos who still play 'us v. them' will clutter your 2 blogs relentlessly..."
The minute you started permitting that it got a whole lot less informative. You can pick up that pap anywhere.
Keith,
I don't have the patience to go back and find it, but...
I thought you said the passion was gone. And then you said the passion was still there.
Whatever... I was going to say if the passion's gone, you really have no choice to make.
If there's some other reason (for shutting down), well, it's your deal, so...
Onward and upward. Life goes on.
All that happy stuff.
smart move, keefer...
if obama does win, you will NOT want to be here trying to answer for what he ACTUALLY DOES when he implements his hidden agenda...
I do give you a great deal of credit for focusing the issues and I
think you hit just the right tone of outrage -
every blog on this subject if full of outrage but you seem to get the style and wording just right...
thanks for the ride...
Ahhh--Nothing like an election to distract American's from the biggest robbery of ALL TIME--
WHY IS PAULSON NOT IN JAIL!?!?!?
The swindle of American taxpayers is proceeding more or less in broad daylight, as the unwitting voters are preoccupied with the national election.
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson agreed to invest $125 billion in the nine largest banks, including $10 billion for Goldman Sachs, his old firm. But, if you look more closely at Paulson's transaction, the taxpayers were taken for a ride--a very expensive ride. They paid $125 billion for bank stock that a private investor could purchase for $62.5 billion. That means half of the public's money was a straight-out gift to Wall Street, for which taxpayers got nothing in return.
These are dynamite facts that demand immediate action to halt the bailout deal and correct its giveaway terms. Stop payment on the Treasury checks before the bankers can cash them. Open an immediate Congressional investigation into how Paulson and his staff determined such a sweetheart deal for leading players in the financial sector and for their own former employer. Paulson's bailout staff is heavily populated with Goldman Sachs veterans and individuals from other Wall Street firms. Yet we do not know whether these financiers have fully divested their own Wall Street holdings. Were they perhaps enriching themselves as they engineered this generous distribution of public wealth to embattled private banks and their shareholders?
more:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21125.htm
Blogs such as this one got me motivated to get off my rear end and do something. For the first time ever I started to write to Congress and speak to others to do something. I donated money and signed petitions. I told friends about this blog and others like it. I found out other people were just as indignant about what was happening as I was. I wasn't alone. Finding my own voice was a turning point for me, and I don't ever see going back.
Great blog. Often hilarious, and always timely with news and observations.
But I had no idea how vast the problem was -- how it was really a generalized debt bubble that was bound to cause a massive an unprecedented global depression.
It's really pathetic that people like Keith, who got it right, get blogs on the internet, while the complete morons who got it all wrong get to run the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, Congress, the banks, etc.
Keith - please don't leave. There's too few like you. Your thoughts are priceless in a country where so much commentary is nothing but sleazy circus barker crap.
Keith...it is really quite simple to understand why no ne has gone to jail...
You are a useless eater in the eyes of TPTB. You are keith.
Really keith - while I have enjoyed your blog - you...denninger...mish...etc are quite naive.
Enjoy the dieoff keith.
It is right on schedule as planned.
Keith,
Thanks for all the wry humor and insight in the past few years. I watched with amazement at the MSM silence as the bubble formed and began to break, just like you and others predicted. Bubble blogs like this one saved me a lot of money.
I'm just relieved that the dam broke before election day, so the whole country could see this disaster for what it was. I look forward to an Obama administration. Yesterday CNN asked him who he would pick for treasury secretary, and the first name out of his mouth was "Volcker". That's a good sign...
Keith,
You are oh so wrong. Remember when you fought for RP. When he all but dropped out you switched to the next lesser evil, BO. There is no way in heck that rebuilding will begin with BO. BO becoming president will be the apex and the painful slide down the other side. He will do everything possible to ensure this is a long and painful depression. I'm not saying that the maverick would do any better, possibly worse. Rebuilding can only happen when we have hit bottom. We are no where near that. It will take at least another 4 year term before we can say we have approximately bottomed.
Your work here is not done. Many people think things are near or past the bottom. I know and you must know this. We have both talked to them.
Regards,
Faithful Reader
Good riddance. Maybe Obama will find a position for you in his "transformational" administration.
Keith if you are done writing, I would be willing to take over the blog and continue on the housing panic legacy.
I am not as good as you but I think I can keep it interesting, and keep it going untill you want to come back!
Don't let it die, let someone else continue on until your passion comes back.
You know, the HPer's were a support group of sorts and I will miss it tremendously. Even though we didn't agree very often about the cause, one thing 95% of us agreed on was the effect, and that was something was dreadfully wrong in our economy and government. And that made us a unified radical minority in of itself. It really has been an honor commiserating with a very select few that saw this coming and who needed to know we weren't alone. And thank you Keith for having the Audacity to start this blog, and I join the ranks with others who said "I don't know what I would have done without my daily dose".
P.S. I think it is still to soon to end the blog. I'll gladly admit when we've hit bottom, but this isn't it. The greedy NAR, Kendra Todd's, etc. are still bottom feeding and they still need to go down. I say let's hang in there together until they are homeless and begging for mercy!
Long time reader says thanks and hope you continue.
Keith,
I've enjoyed your blog tremendously and have been a near daily reader for the past 3 years (gotta take vacations y'know)... This blog has consistently been my favorite during this time. well done - excellent work, top notch, good show and heaps 'o praise to you.
I can understand you hanging things up here since it's come to the end of the story. No need to be a hangar on reliving the glory days after this has come to pass. I applaud your strength to put the blog down at this point.
But you remain a critical thinking individual who can connect the dots with what's coming to pass. Your mad skillz will be needed in the future, maybe you have to explore another area.
Post a note on HP to your new home. America Panic is pretty good but it's not got the incredible following of this forum. You were the catalyst to bring these intelligent voices together.
I'll miss reading FMW, Devestment, Andrew Hac, reality, and Rocman.
Can't say I'll miss Nick or Bitter Renter (Brainstem) though.
-Mike
If Schiff's outlook is correct, all of this including the upcoming election is just the prologue. If he's correct, the rebuilding doesn't restart with this election. You've done a real service to your readership bringing the problems with housing prices to light. I for one don't believe that the problems with the US economy, particularly the Fed's misguided policies and their impact on the US dollar, will disappear as of Tuesday. Nor have I heard anything from either candidate, or from the MSM, that suggests they get the underlying problem or the gravity of the situation. More work for you...
I hate to see you go if indeed that's your plan, but it's understandable. Thanks for everything. The site will be missed.
You cant end the blog, just because it pisses Greg Swann off that it exists.
If you need a rest why not ask for volunteers to keep it going without any input from you? Or just sell it.
Keith,
Buy, Buy. Oops, that wasn't finacial advice:)
I meant Bye, Bye!
You have done your job and completed your mission.
I have been with you all the way thru this Housing Panic. Now, we have to learn to deal with Surviving the Global Depression.
I don't blame you for getting tired of the Housing Panic subject, but maybe you should consider switching over to a "Survive the Depresssion" format.
You have provided a valuable service here and we thank you!
If you do decide to call it quits, please put out the call for someone to succeed you, as this is a valuable forum.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
Regards,
John K.
Keith,
I am a RealatWhore, and I totaly blame you for the Housing Panic! If it wasn't for you, I could be retired in splendor right now!
You have ruined everything and cost me my mansion in the Bahamas, right next to the Orange Guy!
If only you had kept your Blog shut, none of this would have happened. We could have continued to fleece the sheeple forever!
You spoiled it all! We could have kept this CON game going forever!
But, of course, Now the Feds have to intervevene to try to to put the CON back into the CONfidence game, and its ALL YOUR FAULT!
YES, you have ruined this planet as surely as Sun Spots cause Global Warming!
Sincerely,
M. Obama
Kudo's Keith! You saved my ass. all rentals ..SOLD in late 06! at stellar prices. Whew. Go with your gut and energy level...on ending HP that is. What you do is not easy in the world of no pay blogging. I still cannot believe Gold , emerging markets, decoupling and Shiff predictions...The world is in the same shit storm. And that part scares me...just lately too. Because it all started with the REIC!
Blog on Brutha! (Is my vote)
Crashproofed
Hate to see you go Keith, but do what you have to do. You're a champion. And now the ever vigilant MSM are 'on to it' you can at least take a break from doing their job for them. Maybe it's time for the HP crew to to move on anyway and start rebuilding something out of the devastation. HP literally saved me from the financial meat grinder and for that I'm eternally grateful. Go well brother.
Please don't end HousingPANIC just yet. There are going to be so many hilarious moments tomorrow.
It would be a shame if you weren't around for that!!
Today is a good day to die.
Burn Baby Burn
Keith,
You have done us all a great service. Pity you have come to this decision, I still housing panic has a lot to offer us all. We are only getting started.
Anyway, many thanks. It's been a pleasure reading your thoughts over the past few years.
BUH BYE!!!
HP TROLL, "WAIT QUEEF YOU CAN'T CLOSE!!"
BUH BYE!!!
HP'ER, "WHAT ABOUT TNAGELO?!?!?"
BUH BYE!!!
HP'ER, "WHO WILL TELL US WHEN TO BUY AGAIN!!!???!!"
BUH BYE!!!
HP'ER, ????????
TOOLS, DOLTS, DOPES.
IF THIS IS THE END THEN . . . .
ADIOS ALL, IT WAS KIND OF FUN!!
DOPES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well done, you!
But....
It's not like you're Mick Jagger and getting creepier and creepier.
I've lived through a few hurricanes and tropical storms since I moved to North Carolina. I'd turn on my computer in the morning and couldn't decide which to check first The National Hurricane Center or HousingPANIC!! I have exactly the same feelings about a big storm coming and this housing thing: How big is it, where's it going to land and should I get out of town. After landfall, the National Hurricane Center downgrades the storm to a tropical depression and stops coverage. Then, if you want to know what actually happened, you watch "the news". So, I guess we're a depression now.
It just doesn't feel like the show's over.
Encore, Encore, Encore!
Applause
Fade out...
Don't let the liberal door hit you in the ass. You liberal blog didn't even make the list of top 25. Keep blaming your problems on everyone else.
Kieth,
Thanks, you done a great service for many.
Take a few weeks or months off and come back with SurvivalPANIC.
Who do recommend that we start reading now and you could be guest poster sometimes.
Again, thanks for you time and your insights.
Beignet
A million thanks for the info, laughs and open forum! You nailed it! Bravo!
I am already in mourning. So sad, but I understand.
come on man, enough with the drama.
you know, i don't mind the political posts here(don't agree with your choice), don't mind the side tracks here and there, i'm not a message board nazi that says "all posts must stay on topic or you are banned". its the internet for christs sake, post whatever you want and if i am not interested in the topic, i won't click.
but this grandstanding and drama is too much man. "we were right, what now" and the "i am going to end the blog" to get the 500 replies of "don't go kieth, we need you". are you that desperate for a pat on the back?
grow up and give it a rest already.
Keith,
As so many people here have said, YOUR JOB IS NOT DONE YET! There is still so much more that is going to happen and people on this blog need a "go to" place to blog.
I encourage you to continue on with HP. OK, go take a vacation for a few weeks, or until the New Year, but come back! I am sure it takes an incredible amount of energy to keep this blog going everyday and if it's a matter of time and energy then perhaps you should just update this blog twice a week instead of every day. That would free you up to live your life pretty much the way you want to live it but still allow this blog to go on. Or update it even just once a week like many other blogs do.
By walking away from HP completely you will leave a big void in peoples' lives who want to keep engaged with this unfolding tragedy. Hundreds of like-minded smart people will no longer be able to come together in one spot and serve as a voice to each other and the world. That would be a shame.
Unfortunately, if you walk away and then decide to come back 3 or 4 months down the road (or in the spring) I'm afraid things won't be the same as most people will have moved on from here after so long and won't be checking in after your being away for so long. If you need a rest -- and no one could fault you for that -- then maybe just post once a week; or perhaps add a comment forum to the site where posters can post on their own, like many other sites do.
I hope your decision to walk away from HP is not because you have invested so much intellectual and emotional capital into the Obama presidency. I could see how you might not want to keep this going if he wins tomorrow and then he destroys the country through his economic policies. All I can say is that if he does, you can just swallow your pride and throw up a thread entitled something like "Yup, B.O. stinks like all the rest". And you'll learn that no single human being can solve the world's problems...certainly not this one. You'll be forgiven even by folks like me who do not like Obama! This blog really isn't about politics anyway, it's about housing; and people are not so focused on this election here as I think you are.
You were incredibly prescient in forecasting the financial tsunami of the housing bubble, which has really only just begun. You have helped so many people.
Like so many others, I have learned a great deal from you as well as from the intelligent posters on this blog. I think you probably feel the same towards many posters here. It's been a great shared experience and I think most people would like it to continue. It really is a unique place in cyberspace that has attracted an amazing mix of smart, insightful, and contrarian people who have been able to weed through the MSM clutter and get to the truth. You have been so instrumental in making this happen.
Because of this blog I have been spared that huge financial hit that every single other person I know has taken this past year. And my friends and family think I'm a god for my predictions of what would happen starting from last year when I started telling them the truth. Thanks for saving my ass!
If you choose to walk away despite all the folks who want you to remain engaged with HP, best of luck to you in your travels through life...you can go always look back at this time and know that you saved many, many people from financial ruin and personal tragedy.
Thanks.
I've Had It
Ne Me quite pas...
This is what I'll miss:
1) the humor: I've had a lot of laughs here!
2) reading the smart people all over America and the world.
3) the pictures: remember that big snake in the road?
4) the cowardice of the anon posters
5) the differing investment market views.
6) knowing that I wasn't the only person who found realtors to be snarky and disgusting.
Thanks all.
Thanks for all your hard work, but please say it ain't so! We need you.
Every great performance needs an encore.
Don't bow out until the applause has died down.
Keith,
Thank you so much for all that you have done and written. You are truly gifted and I just wish you wouldn't go because this blog is one of the highlights of my day. You provided the sanctuary when a few years back most people including family members thought I was crazy for thinking that housing was a bubble and that it would pop and we would see declines in prices. This blog has kept me informed and has educated me on financial and economic matters like no other thing has done including my college education.
Thank you.
Yours truly,
BubbleGirl
3 Words Keith:
"You are loved"
Thanks!
flying monkey warrior
Best HP'er award!!!!!!!
Thanx fmw
a w d
***********************************
Awe shucks. Thank you for sayin, AWD.
::::smiles really big:::::
It has been a ride, Keith.
TTFN
FMW formerly: Infidel Woman
I'll miss reading FMW, Devestment, Andrew Hac, reality, and Rocman.
****************************
Dear Mike Hunt,
Thank you for the thoughts. I am really going to have HP withdrawals, bad.
FMW
Hi Richard, My Friend.
Like I said, blogging is addictive. For a news and politics junkie with a social conscious especially.
If I keep blogging post-election, I'm thinking of blogging about the issues facing America and the world, and possible solutions. I think a positive, post-crash blog, combined with a population that has been shaken from their slumber, could hold my interest.
Without the GOP and REIC to beat up on, it won't quite be the same. That was fun. The rage was good, and warranted. But now I'm interested in issues like energy policy, medicaid, medicare, social security, global warming, foreign affairs, defense spending, abortion, the death penalty, gun control and financial education. All pretty boring stuff though for most people unfortunately.
Like I said, I truly have no plan.
If I blog post-HP on these wonkish ideas, I need a new blog name. Any ideas?
Above all, this new blog would be about positive change. We tore down the REIC and the Bush Administration pretty good on HP and AP, and the GOP and Dems too. But any new blog would be less tearing down and more building up. More on ideas for change, less on the criminals and fraudsters.
We'll see...
Let's see how this election goes tomorrow...
There is more than the real estate profession where trade bodies are touting hopelessly optimistic numbers. Check out the article http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/557694.html and think about whether the national car sales numbers, the shrinking inventory and the shrinking sales add up in any sensible way. Again anecdotal evidence and common sense are in sync and the headline numbers are not.
You may have won one small victory, but you have not saved us from the mother of all bailouts be it in housing or cars.
The world still needs saving!
Going out at the top is hard to do, but its better than hanging around too long!
Thanks for all you've done! Truly brilliant - you've been another nail in the MSM's coffin.
Over and out.
Moved2Texas
Keith: "But sometimes, you gotta put old yeller down. Sometimes you gotta retire on top, before you overstay your welcome. Sometimes you gotta know when to end the book."
Why not make it the end of January to see if there's an "international emergency" that tests Barack Obama.
While there are icebergs ahead for this Titanic to hit, I'm split on what lies ahead for Obama....
KEITH, IF YOU LEAVE, PLEASE BEFORE YOU GO, LEAVE US WITH A LIST OF WEBSITES AND RESOURCES TO REFER TO WHEN YOU'RE GONE SO WE CAN TRY TO GET SOME OF THE SAME INFO YOU PROVIDED...THANKS FOR A GREAT GREAT BLOG.
ANDY
I wonder what minority of us think it matters not what happens on Election Day. Things will continue to get worse, Obama is not the savior you think he is. He is as much a destroyer as McCain would be. Mark my words. If HP disappears, then I will demand that something replace it to continue the fight against the corruption that is and will continue to run rampant under an Obama administration. Bush is only the worst President TO DATE...the struggle, the fight, the tyranny will NEVER end until we revolt against it.
Keith, you've done a magnificent job exposing all the liars, fraudsters, and crooked politicians who have swindled American taxpayers and the American public. You are a natural leader. Please come home, roll up your sleeves, and help us rebuild our country into the honest, productive country it should be. Start another website devoted to rebuilding and to exposing those who would hinder the effort.
Keith, I sold my R.E. in 2001 and put the money in gold. Yes, I was early but it turned out fine since it was the gold bottom. It now looks like the Greater Depression did in fact start in 2000 and this reflation attempt was simply a phony "B" wave.
I had to paddle upstream against friends and family for all those years. Thanks for providing a place of sanctuary during this time ... a place where I could feel normal! Because most of the time I felt quite abnormal while talking to people caught up in the R.E. bubble and calling me a doom and gloomer. Maybe I was wrong?
I can see you are now struggling with content on HP because there is no clear mission and it's all over but the shouting.
But the R.E. bubble was just a cog in a continuing great corrupt takeover of our government and our media and our military and that provides a large canvas and many choices for a new challenge.
You're gifted in the way you present ideas with persuasion and humor and it would be a loss the everyone to lose a comrade in the good fight.
Good Luck!
Why not at least, I think as someone else suggested, keep HP running till president Bush is gone? How about only weekly updates, like a weekly newsletter?
Why go now? It would be like a weatherman leaving his station in the middle of the huricane no one except for him said would come?
Kieth:
You should do a poll/post as to how many are so disgusted by the events of the last few years that hey would be willing to quit their job (and not pay income taxes) and/or participate in a revolt of some type. You of course would have to make certain that you were not inciting insurrection or revolt as you could end up in jail.
I am just saying because I feel I am getting to the point - and, of course, I don't consider myself a complete nut - at least not like the rest of you freaks.
By ending on election day, you promote the notion that everything important in life has some nexus in Washington DC. Really, this election is not so important that you should mark it it in such a dramatic way.
Why not end on New Year's eve, or the Fourth of July, or other days that remind us of real hope and what is important?
Thanks a million for being our tour guide on a wild ride for the last 3 years.
I think the HP concept has reached its logical end. Please leave the blog open for a good long time, and post a link if you start a new blog. We will check back now and then.
Best of luck to you in all your endeavors.
Ya know,
It was fun!
I came on to stir stuff up, say what was contrary to the popular!
It was fun to vent and read the Bullshit...plenty of it!
Lots o fun!
Lots o' morons and real estate wanna be moguls!!!!!
.
Keith, thanks for starting this and sharing your thoughts with all of us. It has kept me informed and entertained and I think I speak for many.
You should keep this going because this mess isn't over yet.
Keith:
"Above all, this new blog would be about positive change."
How do you hope to accomplish that? You are fundamentally a negative, divisive person.
Do you mean to tell me you actually think you will wake up Nov. 5 refreshed and all right with the world?
You'd be a fool to shut down this site. You have a steady stream of ever growing users. You'd be destroying a perfect resource for ad revenue.
If I were you I'd get smarter about ad placement and profit off this site.
After all you have been through, you MUST realize that there will always be a need for a vanguard.
The views and ideas presented on sites such as this will ALWAYS be ahead of MSM, no matter how much you would like to think otherwise.
You may be tired of this, you may have developed other interests, but to say that your work is done is, IMO, disingenuous.
I sincerely hope you stick around for the coverage of the next act of disinformation, deception, and duplicity, which is being written and rehearsed, backstage, at this moment.
Thanks so much for all your good energy.
Keep it going!
We need HP. One of two people are going to be elected President tomorrow. Both voted for the housing gambler bailout bill. Both have Wall Street and big bankers in their pockets.
In other words, as Ron Paul said, it really doesn't matter who wins tomorrow.
Keep it alive. We need a thorough routing of Congress in 2010 and we need to elect a real freedom-loving president in 2012.
Thanks Keith. I've enjoyed your blog. Love the humor and your insight as well as the thoughts of your posters.
I do hope to see another blog that you author. There is a lot to be said, and you have a gift. Go with it.
How about:
Kieth's (sic) new(s) blog?
or
You herd it here first (Baaaaa)
or
Post Panic Depression
or
Home Page (more HPer's)
Keith,
I've really enjoyed your blog. I come here almost every day. I would hate to see it go forever. I think you should start a new blog, with a new name, where you could post on whatever topic you wanted. We of course could offer topic suggestions.
How about "The Phoenix Club" ,or,"The Phoenix Pub" ? ?
where you could discuss solutions for how we rebuild from the ashes.
My 2cents,
Thanks for all your hard work here.
Yeah, you're a genius aren't you Keith?
You think the panic is over now because the holier than holy Barack H Obama is going to make everything A-OK.
See ya later sucka!
joined the sock puppets club as a means of survival as science had stated that by joining a club today that a person had a 50 percent less chance of dying in the next year than a person who did not...... wonder why panic was the option????????????????????????????/either way ...good luck my friend.........................
You were my gateway blog to the financial blog universe. And you opened my eyes to the real world. HP will be missed.
but what?... a walk in the winter snow to the local cafe? a "Last of the Summer Wine" politics show? or Westchester chic now posting as bali girl yet never having found W.C...-sn affordable place while where im at half the citys units seem to be selling for under 50 grand all "bad" areas ?......ah but we will always have paris>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..
please erase the molotov solution to local political commentary comentary or highlight the comments on the "they" will never understand saRCASM RETORTS
I'm still waiting. I wouldn't be so pushy if I didn't know it's only a matter or hours before the "Fox Viewers are Idiots" chant starts again. So I respectfully ASK FOR MY ANSWER. Especially if the hour is getting late here.
>The brain dead followers of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are truly sad people. - Keith Nov.1
Regarding Fox, I'm not going to try to defend their dopey Fox and Friends or daytime entertainment news. But...
I was watching CNN the other day and this was their "balance".
David Gergin (the guy on the right) had only mildly negative things to say about McCain, other than that he didn't have many thoughts at all (yep, another Einstein).
David King in the center was only fairly certain that McCain is an asshole.
Then they had a left-wing nut to round out the presentation.
You don't get that kind of shit on Fox. If that's what they were serving up I'd probably spend a lot more time on CNN as a balance.
And you expect thinking repub hp'ers to believe this noise because a chorus chants it 50 times a day. Please, you gotta know us better than that Keith.
Oh, and why don't you go ahead and explain CNN, NBC to us. Queue the crickets.
I think EntitlementPANIC would be appropriate, because that's what we're in for. It's a mathematical certainty.
(Or maybe something to do with the Baby Boomers. Boom to Bust. . .)
Jersey Girl
Thanks a Million Keith
almost quite literally
Without you I wouldn't have sold in '06 in NoVa
sittn' on a wad, oh yeah..
what will I do all day now??
Please don't go.
This blog is what gets me up in the morning.
Buh buh buh...
Zillow still says everything is fine. Dandy infact.
ObamaPANIC: The Democratic savor puts America in the hole even deeper.
HousingDEPRESSION: The long drawn out stage of inventory clearing.
HousingPANICKED: Rebuilding REIC with housing bubble lessons.
SpacePANIC: Intergalactic species are heading towards Earth and will harvest our stem cells.
but without your blog i never would have been introduced to that great philosopher of sizzling snapper turtle obese Americano, Andrew Hac!
Macaca
I think you should start a housing panic forum. You have a big enough crowd to have meaningful discussions.
Keith, been reading you since 2006 (I think), used to print this out at work when all my coworkers were so convinced there would be no crash and they were set for life. How things change. You were right! This has been the one place of sanity in a crazy world. Can't thank you enough for all the work you put in. All the best with whatever you do next.
I hate to see you go Keith, you sure saved my butt! But I know also that there is an end for everything. Best of luck!
Keith,
This is a good time to close shop on HousingPANIC. The PANIC is over. The unthinkable has happened. It is time for all of us to move on. The election does not mean the worst is behind us, but, it is a moment in time where we can begin anew. Rough times are ahead, but so is our recovery. Lets start working towards that recovery with as much vigor as we had while voicing our concerns here about the bubble that became a HousingPANIC.
Keith,
you could continue the blog but less frequent, maybe post twice a week? You saved me from buying a condo in Miami twice!! Your blog is both informative and very funny!!! You were my gateway to learning more about politics. Keith I feel as if I am loosing one of my best friends and I am by far the emotional type!
You've cleared the road for us so we can see more clearly where it will head us.
Hope you reconsider.
Many many thanks!!!
Darn. I hope you'll decide to continue. It's not over; and there is still so much to learn and discuss. Please reconsider.
Call the new blog name: 'After the Storm'- picking up the pieces and rebuilding America.
-Mike
Good riddance.
I was one of your first visitors. I remember back when the housing mania was at its peak and remember thinking 'why isn't there a blog?' then finding yours. I was a solid follower as we watched the housing bulls crumble in real time and they tried to spin the inevitable and obvious.
Since housing has imploded, your blog turned into hatemongering DailyKook wannabe, short on substance and annoyingly repetitive -- how many times can you beat the drum: realtors suck, Bush sucks, religion sucks, everyone sucks...?
But it was a fun ride. But now we get to watch democracy implode in real time as Obama dismantles the United States and creates a socialist world order. There's gotta be blog covering that somewhere???
- Joe Logic
HousingPANIC has been the most informative and entertaining blogs I've ever read.
Keith, I hate to see it end and hope you'll reconsider.
Thank you Keith and all HP'ers!
Samantha
what if we promise to click on ten of your advertizers every day?
Thanks Keith! I appreciate your work.
Now let others sort out the mess, for dwelling in anger does more harm than good at this point...
RIP keith
wait, more like RIW, rest in war. you cant RIW
Keith,
Thank you for all Your hard work..I have been an HP reader daily since the beginning of Your brilliant Blog..Ive turned many a friend unto your take on the issues and we all have really enjoyed reading your daily thoughts and pics and videos. Ill miss HP but alas all has come true the last three years of predictions..Im glad you did not quit early on as you were tired of it and im sure it has been alot of work. Please let us HP readers know what your next venture will be. Stocktips etc..Im looking forward to the day when Gold and Silver Bubble blogs pop up. Ill sell then :). I wish you all the best and tonight when my friends and I pop a bottle of champagne to hopefully celebrate the New United States of America free from Panic with Barack Obama as our President..I'll also make a toast to you and your future as a honest futuristic reporter..
All the best,
Eric
Please don't quit-
Consider for the moment that this blog is a special instance of public service that qualifies you as a great American.
That qualifies you as a great philanthropist.
That qualifies (if this applies to you) as an act of Christian service.
I have no right to ask you to do what obviously requires signifcant time and effort on your part. However please appreciate as many of us here do your special ability to bring the truth out to the light of day. That's something you should be very proud of and something that's very necessary in these troubled times.
I have no right to ask this of you and I'm not trying to guilt you into it.
But that said a world without HP would be just that much darker and that's a fact.
Thank you either way and all the best--
DAve
Hey Keith, I PRAY you're not leaving for good. Even if Obama wins tonite, it will seem like a hollow victory without you around in the morning.
You are a person of great stature yourself. Humble yet intelligent, funny and full of rightous indignation, creative and kind. A great leader and insightful critic.
You have no idea how much you would be missed.
Don't go.
Well, here we are, HousingPANIC turns three tomorrow, housing has crashed, the world panicked in October, the GOP will have been defeated, and we'll have young black man as president.
Tomorrow's the day HP'ers. I'm pretty sure it's the last day of HousingPANIC. The story that needed to be told got told.
I'll announce something tomorrow, after seeing how this election goes and sleeping on it. I've got an idea brewing, but we'll see
Stay tuned... And thanks for the kind words (and the not-so-kind ones too)
Keith,
You also taught me the future of information flow is not the fakes of the MSM, but the real people who create this kind of blog. You gave me such a crucial education and amazing gift. Stick around, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Thank you.
There is an art to the graceful exit and quitting while you're ahead. And you are way ahead.
Not sticking around to hold Obama's feet to the fire? Can't stomach the thought that your savior may not amount to a hill of beans? How pathetic.
You have spoiled us. Please don't go!
This is the End this is the End my friends.
Burn Baby Burn
Keith ...You have certain talents that are rare . I don't know what your background is ,but you can come to the heart of a matter ,yet you keep the humor . I also have seen you willing to change your mind when you get more data .
Many issues are facing the World today and a blog about important issues would be great . You could have a blog about a issue for the day ,or have 4 or 5 topics that you are reporting on .I'm just saying that your format is very readable .
Thank you for giving your talents to the important subject of the
housing mess .Wish you would continue in some manner . Maybe you just need a vacation and time to think about it . You were the gift that just kept on giving .
Keith - If you drop the blog, any way you can keep it read-only for a year or more? I'm sure we'd pony up to keep the data available (second tip jar). There's a lot of pieces I think many of us would like to reference now and again...
Thanks for everything, Keith.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
I'll be on Calculated Risk, if anyone calls for me.
Comrade Yossarian
Thanks for everything Keith - I hope this isn't the end but if it is you had an incredible run and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the information and entertainment. You were very very VERY PRESCIENT.
I wish you much luck in all that you do!
LTR-FTC
was the club joining today yeilds a 90 percent less chance of dying over the next year?????????????????? corect number wise?????????/
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