`Squeeze Another $20-$25,000'

[Capricious]

"The problem became so severe in Florida that appraiser Pamela Crowley said she started an e-mail distribution list in 2003 for real estate appraisers to report suspicious sales and refinancing deals.

Crowley said she was forced out of the appraisal business because she refused to report property values that were higher than the actual worth. She has turned the e-mail list into a Web site, and says she now works with a snub-nosed .38-caliber pistol at hand because she's afraid of retribution..."





http://tinyurl.com/2ur6ms

[NotDeadYet]

Anybody else watch Bernanke this morning? He was talking like the only problem is the subprime mortgages. So, what about these overvalued properties? Am I to believe they are all subprime? :confused: And what about the prime ARM's that will reset this year? :eek:

I'm going with Shelley. I don't think it's done yet, either.

[Capricious]

I'm shorting the national real estate recovery of 2008

Of course, local results may vary, but before one goes
long on panhandle near-coastal real estate, keep in mind
that it is mostly outside money that feeds the market.

If Joe & Jane Midwest can't borrow more money for a retaining wall,
Raymond of Ray's Retaining Walls can't buy his near coastal
retreat.

And Roger Retired is checking out how his stocks did today
(not well, I might add.)

There will always be the big money.

[Bob]

"The problem became so severe in Florida that appraiser Pamela Crowley said she started an e-mail distribution list in 2003 for real estate appraisers to report suspicious sales and refinancing deals.

Crowley said she was forced out of the appraisal business because she refused to report property values that were higher than the actual worth. She has turned the e-mail list into a Web site, and says she now works with a snub-nosed .38-caliber pistol at hand because she's afraid of retribution..."





http://tinyurl.com/2ur6msthat's sound very typical of the industry....all gunowners

[SHELLY]

Anybody else watch Bernanke this morning? He was talking like the only problem is the subprime mortgages. So, what about these overvalued properties? Am I to believe they are all subprime? :confused: And what about the prime ARM's that will reset this year? :eek:

I'm going with Shelley. I don't think it's done yet, either.

I watched Bernanke today...He might have looked like Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected, but I bet he was wearing a Depends. If you read between the lines you could see that he knows good and well that the current U.S. economy and his precious banking system is in the ditch. He also knows that unless the U.S. population and government doesn't wean themselves off the "Teat of Debt," the country is heading for 3rd World status.

I hope he has the cojones not to give in to Wall Street's cry for a pre-meeting emergency rate cut. The country needs some "tough love" right now.

Did you see this cartoon show on Squawk this a.m.? http://www.cnbc.com/id/22706231



/

[NotDeadYet]

I had not seen that, thanks for the link. Hemingway and Faulkner :roll:
Actually I thought Bernanke looked nervous. So did the person watching with me. :eek:

[SHELLY]

Revenge of the Appraisers II

---------------------------------------------------------
WaMu accused of appraisal fraud
Lawsuit claims the lender told an appraiser to offer a rosier housing outlook so risky mortgages could get approved.

From Money Magazine's Stephen Gandel

NEW YORK (Money) -- A former real estate appraiser for Washington Mutual is suing the bank, claiming she was blacklisted last year for providing a housing market forecast that was too gloomy.

Jeniffer Wertz, who is seeking unspecified damages, says WaMu stopped accepting her appraisals in mid-2007 a month after she reported that her local housing market in California was "declining."

In the lawsuit, which was filed a week ago, Wertz says she completed appraisals on two houses in May and then quickly got a call from a WaMu (WM (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=WM&source=story_quote_link), Fortune 500 (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/1554.html?source=story_f500_link)) sales manager demanding she change her outlook to "stable" so a loan could be approved.

The WaMu sales manager also demanded Wertz change her appraisal process to produce higher prices for the properties she was evaluating, according to Wertz's lawyer Stephen Danz. The higher an appraisal comes out, the more likely it is a home loan will get approved.

When Wertz refused to comply, she claims the sales manager threatened to block her from doing future appraisal work for the bank. A month later, Wertz's suit says, a third-party appraisal request assigner told her WaMu would no longer accept her work.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/17/real_estate/wamu_lawsuit.moneymag/?postversion=2008011712

[Bob]

I watched Bernanke today...He might have looked like Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected, but I bet he was wearing a Depends. If you read between the lines you could see that he knows good and well that the current U.S. economy and his precious banking system is in the ditch. He also knows that unless the U.S. population and government doesn't wean themselves off the "Teat of Debt," the country is heading for 3rd World status.

I hope he has the cojones not to give in to Wall Street's cry for a pre-meeting emergency rate cut. The country needs some "tough love" right now.

Did you see this cartoon show on Squawk this a.m.? http://www.cnbc.com/id/22706231



/Tough love like a full blown panic as the Fed does nothing....excellent idea Shelly. That's as original as GW telling the Saudis to pump more oil as he does nothing on the domestic front to eliminate our foreign oil dependence. Perhaps the Fed should raise rates and crush all the little people.

[elgordoboy]

I watched Bernanke today...He might have looked like Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected, but I bet he was wearing a Depends. If you read between the lines you could see that he knows good and well that the current U.S. economy and his precious banking system is in the ditch. He also knows that unless the U.S. population and government doesn't wean themselves off the "Teat of Debt," the country is heading for 3rd World status.

I hope he has the cojones not to give in to Wall Street's cry for a pre-meeting emergency rate cut. The country needs some "tough love" right now.

Did you see this cartoon show on Squawk this a.m.? http://www.cnbc.com/id/22706231
/
There is enough to really be concerned about without hyperbole. Third world status for the United States is pretty much out of the question short of nuclear/biological holocaust or the like and then the whole world is done. We have lots of infrastructure and the ability to create more. I'm not worried about having a distended belly and flies on my crusty eyes.




Tough love like a full blown panic as the Fed does nothing....excellent idea Shelly. That's as original as GW telling the Saudis to pump more oil as he does nothing on the domestic front to eliminate our foreign oil dependence. Perhaps the Fed should raise rates and crush all the little people.
What do you suggest the Fed do? Or are you just wanting to blow off some steam?

[SHELLY]

Tough love like a full blown panic as the Fed does nothing....excellent idea Shelly. That's as original as GW telling the Saudis to pump more oil as he does nothing on the domestic front to eliminate our foreign oil dependence. Perhaps the Fed should raise rates and crush all the little people.

Bernanke should NOT become Wall Street's Biyatch.

He needs to take advise from Rudyard Kipling...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise...

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

[Capricious]

"...Third world status for the United States is pretty much out of the question short of nuclear/biological holocaust or the like..."




Glad to hear that economics doesn't matter and that
an entity can continue to borrow & spend regardless.

Maybe you should pass that on to Bush et. al., as
all of a sudden they seem to be of the opinion that
economics DOES matter.

[Capricious]

"...Perhaps the Fed should raise rates and crush all the little people..."



Please define "little people."



As has been obvious to many for so long, and has
become obvious to a few of late, inflation is a real
problem. Lowering rates will do nothing to reduce
inflation.


Stagnating economy + inflation.


Haven't I already seen this movie?

[elgordoboy]

"...Third world status for the United States is pretty much out of the question short of nuclear/biological holocaust or the like..."




Glad to hear that economics doesn't matter and that
an entity can cantinue to borrow & spend regardless.

Maybe you should pass that on to Bush et. al., as
all of a sudden they seem to be of the opinion that
economics DOES matter.
Yeah let me put that in the file. Bush can pick it up with the other stuff I have for him when he stops by for his weekly visit. Can you chart the course that we take to become a third world nation for me? And please think a bit about it before you post. I'll get discouraged and it is hard to respond if you just type silly stuff like what you put in above here.

[Capricious]

"..Can you chart the course that we take to become a third world nation for me?..."




Spend.

Repeat as necessary.





"...And please think a bit about it before you post. I'll get discouraged and it is hard to respond if you just type silly stuff like what you put in above here..."



Optimism & 5 bucks will get you coffee @ Starbucks.



Silly enough?

[elgordoboy]

"..Can you chart the course that we take to become a third world nation for me?..."




Spend.

Repeat as necessary.





"...And please think a bit about it before you post. I'll get discouraged and it is hard to respond if you just type silly stuff like what you put in above here..."



Optimism & 5 bucks will get you coffee @ Starbucks.



Silly enough?
Most certainly silly enough and undeserving of even this little response. You are marginalized.

[Capricious]

".. undeserving of even this little response..."



Maybe.

But I have the power to elicit a response from
elgordoboy any time I want one.

So don't fight it.

[spinDrAtl]

If Bush had any sense, he would ask the nation to make serious sacrifices to reduce oil dependence. However, even if he did, I have no confidence that today's self centered me me me parents and children would make any efforts to curtail the trips in the suv. Every day I see parents DRIVE their children up the cul de sac to the corner bus stop.

[Capricious]

If Bush had any sense, he would ask the nation to make serious sacrifices to reduce oil dependence. However, even if he did, I have no confidence that today's self centered me me me parents and children would make any efforts to curtail the trips in the suv. Every day I see parents DRIVE their children up the cul de sac to the corner bus stop.





How dare you ask people to sacrifice for the good of the country.

People don't want to hear the truth- they want to hear what
they want to hear.

re: McCane vs. Romney in Michigan; All of those auto-building jobs
are going to come back from Mexico & South Korea & China.

Yea.

Right.

Then all of those re-employed UAW auto workers will be looking
to buy condos on the coast.

[Bob]

There is enough to really be concerned about without hyperbole. Third world status for the United States is pretty much out of the question short of nuclear/biological holocaust or the like and then the whole world is done. We have lots of infrastructure and the ability to create more. I'm not worried about having a distended belly and flies on my crusty eyes.





What do you suggest the Fed do? Or are you just wanting to blow off some steam?The Fed must ease in the face of the downturn that Greenspan orchestrated with his gradual rate hikes. The Fed has no sway over OPEC pricing or it's relative inflation so the stand pat argument is not valid. Throw in the fact that oil demand is not inelastic. Was not the funds rate at about 3.5 when the planes hit the towers? The Fed has the room to lower without the fear of a worthless currency. The alternative of inaction is a subject Bernanke is well studied in, and will avoid. Millions of consumers will enjoy lower HELOC rates, car loan financing, and credit card rates as short terms fall. 15 year money has crept under 5 percent, and 30 year money will most likely approach historic lows. This can only help.