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Housing

This tag is associated with 8 posts

So, how are your kids doin?

By Gib ⋅ November 28, 2009 ⋅ One comment

“The American economy is broken, ruined by the greed and irresponsibility of fabulously wealthy corporate chieftains and their shabby acolytes and enablers in government,” writes Bob Herbert in the New York Times. He’s watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and thinking about all the kids in the crowd. “While Wall Street is handing out billions in [...]

The recession is over! Enjoy the Depression.

By Gib ⋅ September 29, 2009 ⋅ Leave a comment

“From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point.” So said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 15th, 2009 (MarketWatch). What he failed to mention is that, from a real-life perspective, the Depression is well underway. Bernanke’s “technical” bright spots–home prices and sales are up, job losses have slowed, retail [...]

The best way to rob a bank is to own one

By Gib ⋅ April 5, 2009 ⋅ Leave a comment

Tim Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, and others are “covering up” the massive frauds perpetrated by investment bankers. So said William K. Black on Bill Moyers Journal, April 3rd edition. Black should know. Now an academic at the University of Missouri, he was the head of a federal regulatory and litigation team that brought to [...]

A paycheck or two from the mean streets?

By Gib ⋅ March 24, 2009 ⋅ Leave a comment

The recent stock market uptick, which Nouriel Roubini has termed the proverbial “dead cat bounce,” will not put millions of Americans back to work. Bloomberg reports, “More than 3.1 million jobs were eliminated last year and the unemployment rate jumped in February to 8.1 percent, the highest in more than 25 years.” Government reports are [...]

It’s this guy’s fault, right?

By Gib ⋅ February 18, 2009 ⋅ Leave a comment

This guy here. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, the big investment firm that created all those mortgage backed securities and exotic financial derivatives that have blown up in our faces. This guy who has made billions of dollars from our misery. It’s his fault, right? Okay, maybe not him alone, but guys like him, [...]

The Grapes of Wrath II

By Gib ⋅ February 11, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

“On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment. . . . In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.” (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 1939) “What goes around comes around. [...]

Ten safe places to put money in 2009

By Gib ⋅ January 3, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

NOTE: This post was the basis for a permanent page, which has been updated. Click to see the page. In 2007 I became convinced the stock market was ready to decline, so I acted decisively to preserve my hard-earned money. Of all the things I did, the most dramatic was to short the financial sector [...]

Live blogging TEOTWAWKI: Short-term memories, long-term pain

By Gib ⋅ December 31, 2008 ⋅ 3 comments

AP reports, “GMAC Financial Services . . . loosened its tight lending standards . . . the first time that a financial institution has said it will use money from the $700 billion bank bailout to offer more affordable credit to consumers.” Since loose lending standards were a major contributor to the enormous credit bubble [...]

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