Archive for July, 2009
CALIFORNIA’S MORTGAGE DEFAULT RATE SOARS TO 9.5%
July 31st, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: About 1 in 10 Californians with a home loan is now in default, and there’s growing evidence that the mortgage meltdown is spreading to commercial real estate. The home mortgage delinquency rate — the percentage of borrowers who have missed several payments and are in the first stage of foreclosure — […]
Pushed by Recession, Millions Make Dramatic Job Changes
July 31st, 2009Via: USA Today: The automotive industry was the only life Ed Wozniak knew. As a teenager, he would take apart vintage cars, soup them up and put them back together in a weekend. His father was a machine repairman, and Wozniak got an apprenticeship doing similar work for Chrysler. But in late 2007, after he […]
Recession Worse Than Prior Estimates, Revisions Show
July 31st, 2009Can we get some green shoots in here? What’s that? Tim and Ben said to charge em? Oh ok! Via: Bloomberg: The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed. The world’s […]
Town Halls Gone Wild
July 31st, 2009Via: Politico: Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress. On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked […]
Afghanistan: U.S. Surgeons Drafted in as British Medics Exhausted by Casualty Surge
July 31st, 2009Well, nobody said that a turf war over opium was going to be a walk in the park. Via: Times Online: The surge in British casualties in Afghanistan has left military surgeons so exhausted that a US surgical team has been drafted in to help. The British doctors have also been overwhelmed with casualties from […]
GDP Splat: How ‘Bout That Dollar?
July 31st, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Wee! I already wrote the main commentary to the upcoming phase of the game back here: Dollar Finally Breaking Down 77.688 is the last chance support on the USDX anywhere around these levels. The next stop is likely the 71-72 zone. […]
Tamiflu Causes Sickness and Nightmares in Children
July 31st, 2009Via: Times Online: More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests. An estimated 150,000 people with flu symptoms were prescribed the drug through a new hotline and website last week, according to figures revealed yesterday. Studies of children attending three schools in London […]
Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden
July 30th, 2009Via: CNBC / Reuters: The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government’s burgeoning budget deficit. It was the second lackluster showing in as many days, convincing analysts that the stellar results of debt auctions just a few […]
Florida: 32 Story Luxury Condo Complex with Only One Unit Occupied
July 30th, 2009Surreal. Via: News Press: Victor Vangelakos lives in a luxury condominium tower on the Caloosahatchee River. He never has to worry about the neighbors making too much noise. There are no neighbors. Vangelakos, 45, his wife Cathy and their three children are the only residents in the 32-story Oasis I condo on the east edge […]
Hyperinflation: Fed Walks the Tightrope
July 30th, 2009Great followup to: Kucinich: The Federal Reserve Is Paying Banks NOT to Make Loans. Via: Reuters: The sound money set remains concerned that the Federal Reserve’s emergency actions to corral collapse could ignite hyperinflation. In particular, they point to the explosion of excess reserves inside the banking system, which they call dry tinder just waiting […]
