The sole practical result of the [ABM] program, over the whole of its existence, has been to pour money into the pockets of American defence contractors. [1] God Bless Stupidity.[2] You often have to get it wrong to get it right. Both sides have been terribly overcharged by their respective military-industrial complexes for more than 60 years, and the financial drag on each economy now dominates any conceivable threat they bear each other. The US and Russia are both waste deep in economic quicksand and they have to shed themselves of the excess weight of those silly WMDs immediately or…
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Investors were told last month their money was spent and they won’t get a penny back. A single mother in suburban Los Angeles lost $200,000 and won’t be able to send her sons to private universities. A Los Angeles-area businessman lost a deposit of more than $1 million on four Trump units, including two penthouses. The project’s collapse comes at a delicate time for Trump, whose casino company, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection last month. He also is embroiled in a lawsuit to avoid paying debt on the struggling Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago. [1]…
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Weren’t we promised transparency?   Embedded video from CNN Video  

Click the pic to see an amazing story of a government agency that may well be losing sight of the forest for the trees.[1]

"If you buy U.S. Treasuries, then there’s at least a fighting chance that you’ll get your money back." – dealer [1] Sorry, Doomers, but on a Thursday when just about everything else was depression-city, the NY Fed numbers we have been following were casting an almost unique ray of light UPDATE: Once again, Brad’s got further info and charts at this must-read CFR post.[5] … But the fact that Russia explicitly indicated its sovereign fund would shy away from illiquid Agencies is news. It underscores that most sovereign investors — sovereign funds as well as central banks — are shifting…
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It’s Friday, and here’s what CBS News said about us on the fourth: Beginning in 2005, hundreds of websites and blogs sprouted up warning about the housing bubble. At the time, these people were often viewed as doomsayers or cranks. Thoroughly vindicated, many of their sites are now de facto rallying points against Obama’s plan, purely on grounds of economic prudence. The blog FlippersInTrouble, for instance, gives exhaustive data on the losses being racked up by speculators in Sacramento, which won’t help build sympathy for the beneficiaries of the bailout. HousingDoom.com, a site which began by looking at economic aspects…
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Remember this post on the bus driver with the $800,000 home that wants Obama to stop the foreclosures?   Doomers weren’t sympathetic, and apparently we weren’t alone.  CNN has this follow-up: [Thanks J.K.!] Embedded video from CNN Video   I have also received [Thanks to J.K.#2- what are the odds!] a report by this anonymous blogger concerning Minta Garcia.  I haven’t double-checked the details of the transactions, but a search on Zaba confirms that Garcia was at the Goshen, Charles and Arlington addresses: Minta Garcia, a school bus driver and her husband, Luis Guillermo Flores, are, most likely, “unlicensed” real…
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  Behind, or in foreclosure: [Thanks L!] NEW YORK (AP) — An industry survey shows a record 5.4 million American homeowners with a mortgage, or nearly 12 percent, were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday the percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up from 10 percent in the July-September quarter and up from about 8 percent a year earlier. So 5.4 million American’s are behind?  Look however, how many homeowners the administration wants to save.  From U.S. News and World…
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Who could have seen that the housing market was in a bubble?  Anyone who knew what to look for.  I enjoyed this informative "Crash Course" on asset bubbles by Chris Martenson.  He shows that you don’t have to be a Federal Reserve chairman to figure out what’s happening:  

From CNBC this morning, we get this cheerful statistic: One in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more to their lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate will increase as housing prices drop in states that have so far avoided the worst of the crisis, a new study shows. About 8.31 million properties had negative equity at the end of the year, up 9 percent from 7.63 million at the end of September, according to the study released Wednesday by First American CoreLogic. The percentage of "underwater" borrowers rose to 20 percent from 18 percent over that time….
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No, not $48,000 a piece- that’s the total price for all of them. Who knows how good a deal it is, I’ve seen some scary properties in some of these towns.  You’ve got to admit though, that’s pretty cheap. From the Dayton, OH Craigslist: A Samll [Sic] REO package available with properties in the following locations: Cleveland – 7 Columbus – 4 Dayton – 3 Springfield – 1 Mansfield – 1 That’s $3,000 / Property!!    

One reason that Fannie and Freddie will never return to their earlier forms is simple mathematics: to become independent, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must repay the taxpayer dollars invested in the companies, plus interest. Even if the firms achieve profitability, it could take them as long as 100 years — or longer — to pay back the government. And almost no one expects the companies to return to profitability anytime soon. [1] This is, like, so not bankruptcy remote.  The pizza delivery man is knocking on the door of Congress with another National Debt as big as the one…
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In the late nineties an approach was made to the British Ministry of Defence for salvage rights on the Operation Deadlight U-boats by a firm who planned to raise up to a hundred of them. Because the wrecks were constructed in the pre-atomic age, they contain metals which are not radioactively tainted and which are therefore valuable for certain research purposes. … [1] Truly a hot button issue for our times Hat tip to Eric M. for this one.  We were just digging into our Greek Combos at Cousin’s and going over how subprime mortgages had messed up just about…
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  Many thanks to M for our unofficial preview of Phoenix home sales.  When ARMLS issues their report in a couple of weeks, the numbers will be slightly different.  Our preview though, gives us a good indication of where the market is at. The numbers look surprisingly better.  Typically sales are not good this time of year.  Not only that, mortgages are not as easy to get these days.   Sales are way up, inventory is down: Active                        49,511 Under Contract           10,902 Sold                          5,377  +60% Sold(02-08)                3,348  …
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Seems some folk think that FTBs should save for their own down payments. One the other hand, some don’t.  The Implode-O-Gang sends this [1] …