tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post116438413089550795..comments2023-12-30T10:06:37.450+00:00Comments on HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008: Oh, man, now this is getting ugly - soon it'll be cheaper to use the US dollar over here than toilet paperbloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06585266242070350399noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164598232896018352006-11-27T03:30:00.000+00:002006-11-27T03:30:00.000+00:00You sound like those people crying the end of Amer...You sound like those people crying the end of America when Japan was at their peak in th early 80s. Where is Japan today vs America? They have one of the highest national debts and are in the top two for holding dollars. Smart?<BR/><BR/>Europe is feeling the heat of high costs and high housing, remember Ireland, Britain, France, Spain, Denmark have had home prices rise much higher than US prices. And China is making inroads into their markets making countries like Italy non-competitive.<BR/><BR/>Exports? Because Texas exports more goods to Arkansa doesn't mean much viewed from our internal markets just as Germany or France's exports to other EU countries, they are integrated. When you compare the EU population and economic output and consumption in realtion to the USA that is more of an accurate picture and they have major economic issues and unfunded liabilities as we do. If Europe had to pay more for their defense we'd look a little better.<BR/><BR/>What do you think they were saying when the dollar bought a Euro for 78 cents after having been introduced at $1.19? Currencies rise and fall, look at Canada. When I went to college up there in 1973/74 I paid $1.05 US to get $1 Cdn. Then it went dow to about .62 cents US for $1 Cdn. <BR/><BR/>Means nothing in the long run. Do you think the British pound is really worth twice the dollar when they are a small country with little industry and home prices that make ours look cheap?foxwoodliefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09348399460824769686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164516694129220762006-11-26T04:51:00.000+00:002006-11-26T04:51:00.000+00:00gee..... all of a sudden gold doesn't seem so far ...gee..... all of a sudden gold doesn't seem so far fetched!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164498617390763492006-11-25T23:50:00.000+00:002006-11-25T23:50:00.000+00:00Market timing is a fools errand. Everyone should k...Market timing is a fools errand. Everyone should know that.<BR/>You cant time secutirites, or gold, or currencies. Hindsight is always<BR/>20/20 and I have had to train myself not to beat myself up for missing<BR/>buying opportunties. The fact of the matter is that if the dollar<BR/>tanks, its game over for everyone, and manufacturing can rebound in the<BR/>US, which will make the dollar stronger again. When Japan was flying<BR/>high, we all thought the end was here, and then ten eyars later, TIME had a headline about how Japan was jealous of the American monster.<BR/>Maybe the world is globalized enough to live with a sick US on the sidelines, but there will at least be a transition period and it wont be pretty.<BR/>Without our stolen oil reserves in Irsq, maybe we're done with, but maybe it will spur the kind of changes that will make us stronge rin the long run. The other main thing to remember is that all non-dollar instruments have been cruising at speculative levels, and if there is a slowdown, everyone will run to cash, and while the British pound or Euro may look like a good hedge, sometime someone will decide that they dont look so great either. Its much ado about nothing. Save as much money as possible for the coming recession, if it arrives.Jackson Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00518575210326929963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164489854637605562006-11-25T21:24:00.000+00:002006-11-25T21:24:00.000+00:00The International Monetary Fund, the world's third...The International Monetary Fund, the world's third-biggest owner of gold, should sell some of its hoard to cover projected operating losses, said a growing number of the fund's executive directors. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.ce.cn/World/biz/200611/23/t20061123_9557947.shtml" REL="nofollow"> "Large gold holders and producers like the US have been worried that IMF sales would drive down the gold price," said Ted Truman, a former US Treasury assistant secretary and a scholar at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. </A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164478465920622062006-11-25T18:14:00.000+00:002006-11-25T18:14:00.000+00:00Next time around, the Selective Service will be se...Next time around, the Selective Service will be sending America’s young women off to war. The seed has been planted in the minds of Americans. A Democrat of course was chosen as cover to champion the bill with the deceptive selling point “It's a matter of fairness.” Our women are next...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164473531043335892006-11-25T16:52:00.000+00:002006-11-25T16:52:00.000+00:00http://www.odac- info.org/ Oil Depletion – dealing...http://www.odac- info.org/ <BR/><BR/><BR/>Oil Depletion – dealing with the issues<BR/><BR/>Energy Institute, London , Tuesday 7th 2006<BR/><BR/>Say good-bye to airlines and easy motoring.Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164473208491709422006-11-25T16:46:00.000+00:002006-11-25T16:46:00.000+00:00Not much into tex marrs, but this is somewhat inte...Not much into tex marrs, but this is somewhat interesting:<BR/><BR/>Imminent U.S. Attack on Iran? <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>It is urgent that each of us understand what may be about to transpire:<BR/><BR/> (1) Israel's Air Force and Navy armed with missiles and munitions provided to them by the U.S.A., will attack and severely damage one of our U.S. carriers, killing many of our servicemen.<BR/><BR/> (2) The savage attack will be blamed on Iran and its Prime Minister Ahmadinejad.<BR/><BR/> (3) The U.S. will launch massive air counterstrikes and naval bombardments at Iran, targeting that nation's entire military-economic infrastructure.<BR/><BR/> (4) The U.S. and Israel will simultaneously execute a media propaganda blitz to persuade the U.S. populace and the world that Iran is an aggressor, that Ahmadinejad is another Hitler, and that the U.S. military actions were simply counter-retaliation for Iran's "Pearl Harbor-like" assault on a U.S.A. vessel.<BR/><BR/> (5) End Result: Many American servicemen slain and wounded, tens of thousands of Iranians dead, Iran's economy spoiled, and Israel on top, oil prices skyrocket once again.<BR/><BR/>Israeli Prime Minister Olmert is, at this moment, here in the U.S.A. on a 5-day visit, meeting with Bush White House officials, and with high-level Jewish Illuminati. Could it be that this Iran war scenario is at the top of their agenda?Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164472117989879712006-11-25T16:28:00.000+00:002006-11-25T16:28:00.000+00:00RE:--------------------------------“Israel has pro...RE:<BR/>--------------------------------<BR/>“Israel has proposed to the United States to strike Iran on several occasions this year, Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported Sunday morning. According to the report, the latest proposal was raised during the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee’s visit to Washington several days ago, where Committee members apparently attempted to “market one agenda: Launching a war on Iran.”<BR/>---------------------------<BR/><BR/>Shitttt, is that what Cheney is doing in Saudi Arabia this weekend, viz. coordinating with, informing them of the impending attack ? <BR/><BR/>I will have to watch the price of oil next week and see if it rises. That would be an indicator. Hang on, perhaps the dollar drop that already occured WAS the indicator ?<BR/><BR/>This type of fundamental analysis is soooooo difficult for short term moves, no wonder technical analysis gets such a following.<BR/><BR/>-ShantanuAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164468330848534672006-11-25T15:25:00.000+00:002006-11-25T15:25:00.000+00:00“Quietly but with malice, OPEC cartel nations have...“Quietly but with malice, OPEC cartel nations have been dumping the U.S. dollar over the past three years, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).”“The move away from the dollar could prove catastrophic for U.S. economic interests and bring to an end to more than a half century of dollar supremacy around the globe.”<A HREF="http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/6/211118.shtml" REL="nofollow">Click Here</A><BR/>“Since our "federal reserve notes" have no value unless all countries are forced to buy them at economic gunpoint, Iran is the leak in the dike. If the USA doesn't stick its finger in it, it will definitely grow. Once other nations see Iran getting away with selling her oil for real money, they will stop buying U.S. dollars and the USA will be flooded with inflation because of her idiocy in having Federal Reserve notes backed by nothing.”<A HREF="http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/20-04-2006/79385-greed-0" REL="nofollow">Click Here</A><BR/>“Israel has proposed to the United States to strike Iran on several occasions this year, Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported Sunday morning. According to the report, the latest proposal was raised during the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee’s visit to Washington several days ago, where Committee members apparently attempted to “market one agenda: Launching a war on Iran.”<BR/><A HREF="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3150318,00.html" REL="nofollow">Click Here</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164467641207973052006-11-25T15:14:00.000+00:002006-11-25T15:14:00.000+00:00If you don't borrow to invest, there is a big diff...If you don't borrow to invest, there is a big difference. <BR/><BR/>Friday, November 24, 2006 6:22:22 PM <BR/><BR/><BR/>.....then you really shouldn't!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164466702791050752006-11-25T14:58:00.000+00:002006-11-25T14:58:00.000+00:00"In the US it now costs about $8 to get into a mov..."In the US it now costs about $8 to get into a movie, $4 for a small drink and $4 for a small popcorn."<BR/><BR/>In London movie tickets are $22 each, a large popcorn and drink $20.<BR/><BR/>Dinner for two at a decent place with a bottle of wine is around $170<BR/><BR/>An 80gb ipod video is $450, whereas in the US it's $330<BR/><BR/>A pack of gillete fusion razors sets you back $40.<BR/><BR/>In other words, expats and US tourists are screwed! <BR/><BR/><B> Kieth how can you live there and be so dumb about the cost of the exchange? In the USA a man making $50,000 pays pays $7,5000 to the Feds, $3,500 to the State, $3,200 to FICA, $2,000 to his city, and $2,000 in sales tax. That leaves him with $31,800 to spend on popcorn an movie tickets.<BR/><BR/>Do you know what England takes outof your pay check? Do you know what the sales tax is?<BR/><BR/>The Queen is a ball-less bitch. Parlament is a bunch of fags. They do not have the courage to face the people they repersent. They are British cowards.<BR/><BR/>In England the employer takes the money and gives it to the Queen. They people do not know what they are being taxed. The Brit making $50,000 a year says he earns "$31,800" because he is inbred moron that believes what he is told and $31,800 is the salary he negotiated.<BR/><BR/>The truth is that the first 1.6 times "more" that your goods cost in England are to American goods, are in fact the same price as American goods. It's the bit above the 1.6 times more that is the real cost difference. But that is only if you believe England taxes it's people the way America taxes it's people. The truth is the reason the Queen and parlament are such ball-less cowards is because they rape "their" people every day.</B>Dogcrap Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08787720028392236244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164465525555261922006-11-25T14:38:00.000+00:002006-11-25T14:38:00.000+00:00Trying to keep upYou told us to buy the dollar. Wh...Trying to keep up<BR/><BR/>You told us to buy the dollar. When did you tell us to sell?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164460909274350792006-11-25T13:21:00.000+00:002006-11-25T13:21:00.000+00:00Yeah but the UK economy is tremendously fickle.The...Yeah but the UK economy is tremendously fickle.<BR/><BR/>The pound to dollar ratio was around 2 for a long time, then after the early 90s sterling fell like a rock.<BR/><BR/>If I were in the UK holding real estate I'd be really nervous because every time it gets to a high it drops about 30%.<BR/><BR/>So I wouldn't worry about the ratio unless I guess I were an expat living some place incredibly expensive rather than someplace cheap, like Keith.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164446715390965252006-11-25T09:25:00.000+00:002006-11-25T09:25:00.000+00:00"In the US it now costs about $8 to get into a mov..."In the US it now costs about $8 to get into a movie, $4 for a small drink and $4 for a small popcorn."<BR/><BR/>In London movie tickets are $22 each, a large popcorn and drink $20.<BR/><BR/>Dinner for two at a decent place with a bottle of wine is around $170<BR/><BR/>An 80gb ipod video is $450, whereas in the US it's $330<BR/><BR/>A pack of gillete fusion razors sets you back $40.<BR/><BR/>In other words, expats and US tourists are screwed!bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06585266242070350399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164446457319397632006-11-25T09:20:00.000+00:002006-11-25T09:20:00.000+00:00Following the U.S. dollarSince leaving gold, there...Following the U.S. dollar<BR/>Since leaving gold, there have been several attempts to peg the value of the pound to other currencies, initially the U.S. dollar.<BR/><BR/>Under continuing economic pressure, and despite months of denials that it would do so, on September 19, 1949, the government devalued the pound by 30%, from US$4.03 to US$2.80. The move prompted several other governments to devalue against the dollar too, including Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Egypt, India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway and South Africa.<BR/><BR/>In the mid-1960s the pound came under renewed pressure since the exchange rate against the dollar was considered too high. In the summer of 1966, with the value of the pound falling in the currency markets, exchange controls were tightened by the Wilson government. Among the measures, tourists were banned from taking more than £50 out of the country, until the restriction was lifted in 1970. The pound was eventually devalued by 14.3% to US$2.41 in November 1967.<BR/><BR/>With the break down of the Bretton Woods system — not least because mainly British currency dealers had created a substantial Eurodollar market which made the U.S. dollar's gold standard harder for its government to maintain — the pound was floated in the early 1970s and so subject to a market valuation. The Sterling Area effectively ended at this time when the majority of its members also chose to float freely against the pound and the dollar.<BR/><BR/>A further crisis followed in 1976, when it was apparently leaked that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) thought that the pound should be set at US$1.50, and as a result the pound fell to $1.57, and the government decided it had to borrow £2.3 billion from the IMF. In the early 1980s the pound moved above the $2 level as interest rates rose in response to the monetarist policy of targeting money supply and a high exchange rate was widely blamed for the deep recession of 1981. At its lowest, the pound stood at just US$1.05 in February 1985, before returning to US$1.77 during the 1990s. As of August, 2006 it had risen back to $1.91 and has risen and fallen with the Euro against the US dollar, standing as of October 13, 2006 at $1.85.bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06585266242070350399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164446102681912312006-11-25T09:15:00.000+00:002006-11-25T09:15:00.000+00:00Eight US$ for a beer?Maybe we should start exporti...Eight US$ for a beer?<BR/>Maybe we should start exporting (more? beer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164445762963190962006-11-25T09:09:00.000+00:002006-11-25T09:09:00.000+00:00as exerpted from "The Oil We Eat":The common assum...as exerpted from "The Oil We Eat":<BR/><BR/>The common assumption these days is that we muster our weapons to secure oil, not food. There's a little joke in this. Ever since we ran out of arable land, food is oil. Every single calorie we eat is backed by at least a calorie of oil, more like ten. In 1940 the average farm in the United States produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil energy it used. By 1974 (the last year in which anyone looked closely at this issue), that ratio was 1:1. And this understates the problem, because at the same time that there is more oil in our food there is less oil in our oil. A couple of generations ago we spent a lot less energy drilling, pumping, and distributing than we do now. In the 1940s we got about 100 barrels of oil back for every barrel of oil we spent getting it. Today each barrel invested in the process returns only ten, a calculation that no doubt fails to include the fuel burned by the Hummers and Blackhawks we use to maintain access to the oil in Iraq.Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164445414836588162006-11-25T09:03:00.000+00:002006-11-25T09:03:00.000+00:00The Oil We EatFollowing the food chain back to Ira...The Oil We Eat<BR/><BR/>Following the food chain back to Iraq<BR/><BR/>Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004. <BR/><BR/>Originally from Harper's Magazine, February 2004. By Richard Manning. <BR/><BR/>"The secret of great wealth with no obvious source is some forgotten crime, forgotten because it was done neatly."—Balzac <BR/><BR/>The journalist's rule says: follow the money. This rule, however, is not really axiomatic but derivative, in that money, as even our vice president will tell you, is really a way of tracking energy. We'll follow the energy. <BR/><BR/>We learn as children that there is no free lunch, that you don't get something from nothing, that what goes up must come down, and so on. The scientific version of these verities is only slightly more complex. As James Prescott Joule discovered in the nineteenth century, there is only so much energy. You can change it from motion to heat, from heat to light, but there will never be more of it and there will never be less of it. The conservation of energy is not an option, it is a fact. This is the first law of thermodynamics. <BR/><BR/>Special as we humans are, we get no exemptions from the rules. All animals eat plants or eat animals that eat plants. This is the food chain, and pulling it is the unique ability of plants to turn sunlight into stored energy in the form of carbohydrates, the basic fuel of all animals. Solar-powered photosynthesis is the only way to make this fuel. There is no alternative to plant energy, just as there is no alternative to oxygen. The results of taking away our plant energy may not be as sudden as cutting off oxygen, but they are as sure.Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164444876545768262006-11-25T08:54:00.000+00:002006-11-25T08:54:00.000+00:00"Without energy, not without oil.90% of oil use is..."Without energy, not without oil.<BR/><BR/>90% of oil use is in transportation of food and other items required for such a rapacious species to exist (in the numbers we currently exist at). At 500 million things could be different.<BR/><BR/>Of course all of our energy comes from the sun.<BR/><BR/>There is no other energy source more transportable, dense in energy, and as cheap as oil.<BR/><BR/>Renewables will not ever come close to replacing oil as a transportation fuel.<BR/><BR/>The party is over - we shot our wad in true drunken sailor style and we will pay dearly.Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164442331834278622006-11-25T08:12:00.000+00:002006-11-25T08:12:00.000+00:00"Richard, bankers can get by with less oil. "No th..."Richard, bankers can get by with less oil. "<BR/><BR/>No they cannot.<BR/><BR/>The global economy is driven by relentless expansion fueled by greed and uncontrolled population growth.<BR/><BR/>The economy is like riding a bike - if it stops moving forward (ie mored debt in future growth) it crashes.<BR/><BR/>With less energy available everything will be devalued...lots of money, but nothing to spend it on.<BR/><BR/>Oil is our only basis for existance...hate to break it to ya folks, but because of oil we were screwed into existance by our parents....without oil we will die off as a species.<BR/><BR/>Truth sucks.Roccmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13941353492023923157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164438121086834162006-11-25T07:02:00.000+00:002006-11-25T07:02:00.000+00:00What is the difference from stoozing and the Yen C...<A HREF="http://www.moneyweek.com/file/20635/why-is-the-carry-trade-so-dangerous.html" REL="nofollow"> What is the difference from stoozing and the Yen Carry Trade? </A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164435482288539462006-11-25T06:18:00.000+00:002006-11-25T06:18:00.000+00:00does any one have data on when these ARMs are comm...does any one have data on when these ARMs are comming due?<BR/><BR/>Keith?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164430527661157722006-11-25T04:55:00.000+00:002006-11-25T04:55:00.000+00:00Y'all know China owns us, right?<A HREF="http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=53106984" REL="nofollow"> Y'all know China owns us, right? </A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164429742373635082006-11-25T04:42:00.000+00:002006-11-25T04:42:00.000+00:00anon has a belief in the competence of the pols, t...anon has a belief in the competence of the pols, the Feds, their software projects, the surveillance techniques..<BR/><BR/>The evidence of Katrina, the military and civil planning and execution of the Iraq War, the idiocy and total incompetence of the Dept of Homeland Security, the lionising of Greenspan in Congress and the media suggests that the rot of incompetence, ignorance due to the decline in education standards, graft and cronyism has infected the bureaucratic apparatus and the body politic to such an extent and vast methods of evading their insane schemes will exist. <BR/><BR/>There's also the warning from Robbie Burns ( Scot poet and nationalist) warning about "the best laid schemes of mice and men ". But in any case, this particular lot in power "couldn't even organize a pissup in a brewery".<BR/><BR/>They might LIKE to organize a orderly devaluation of the dollar but.. I read of all those runs on the pound when the UK Pound was the dying world reserve currency and personally recall the same issues when it was dead as a reserve currency but not quite buried - They won't be able to manage the orderly devaluation in quite the manner they envisage. Thieves do fall out with each other.<BR/><BR/>Its a matter of belief I know - I'll take my chances betting on the incompetence and corruptibility of the current lot in power in the USofA.<BR/><BR/>-KAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1164429047226195162006-11-25T04:30:00.000+00:002006-11-25T04:30:00.000+00:00Richard, bankers can get by with less oil. Trading...Richard, bankers can get by with less oil. Trading the USD is essential to their very survival. They may not like it, but that is the reality for now.<BR/><BR/>The rise in demand for oil depends on economic growth. If the big economies falter, demand will drop - problem solved (in the short term).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com