WMC Going Under

[LostCat]

I talked to My (not going to say if it’s my brother or sister, so I’ll this person Chris), last night. For the sake of confidentiality, Chris told me that WMC (General Electrics’ Sub prime Lender), is going to close their doors next week. At first they wanted to lay off as many people as they could in a way that would eliminate their ability to collect un employment or require severance pay. They would basically put everyone on a performance review period and force them to meet a specific target, something around 20-million in sells. Since not a single person in the company is meeting these targets, they couldn’t do it this way. So Chris tells me that they are expected to close their doors next week. WMC is the 3rd largest subprime lender in the country.

Chris also tells me that chirs has never seen anything so scary. People are so freaked out because they have bought so many investment properties that they will not be able to afford with a standard pay.

All Chris can tell me is that this is only the start of the down turn for the market and if I think it’s going to be pretty anytime soon, I am fooled. The general public is going to be scrambling in about 7-months..

On another side note, I was in a meeting with Caltrans the other day. We are in the process of building a huge freeway expansion project. At the end of the meeting a representative form another planning agency explained to us that the project would be under funded due to the result of international competition from China and the expanding cost of cement. Basically, this means that the voters tax money will not be spent to built what they voted on and it’s likely by the time the project is through environmental and preliminary engineering, the costs will double..

Goodbye economy… Thanks BUSH and GREENSPAN, you’ve done our country good.

[PerryChase]

Good info, lostcat. I’ll be watching the financial pages next week.

[gold_dredger_phd]

Buy gold, silver and some foreign currencies since the US dollar is going in the toilet.

Notice that interest rates are lower in Europe, with the Euro than here, and the Euro is gaining on the dollar? Europeans may suck at running an economy, but they do understand the meaning of hard currency and aren’t afraid of a little unemployment.

We need a depression right ahead of the election in 2008!

I’m sure the economy looked real rosy in 1929 as well!

This time around, people are buying over-priced real estate on margin instead of stocks. You can buy a house with 0% margin!

[gold_dredger_phd]

What’s the symbol for WMC?

[an]

LostCat, since you sat in the Caltran meeting and mentioned freeway expansion, can you give us more details? Since alot more houses are being build between the 56 & 78 and 5 & 15, is there any plan for a freeway in the middle?

[PerryChase]

A Sinking Sensation for Subprime Loans
The default rate for borrowers in the sector has jumped faster than anyone was expecting, raising risks for housing and the overall economy

by Joe Niedzielski From Standard & Poor’s Equity Research
Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/feb2007/pi20070214_954191.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

The gathering storm clouds over the nation’s housing and lending markets grow darker each day. Fueling the latest concerns is further fallout in the subprime mortgage loan market, where lenders offer financing to less-creditworthy buyers.

[LostCat]

The 15 is already being built and will include a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line that will take people into downtown SD. So if that’s your commute, you’re in luck. Unfortunately SANDAG planned it wrong so it will still take you longer to commute by bus than car.

They are planning a 20 lane freeway along the 5 between 76 and 56, but it’s heading toward litigation. Too many homes will get whipped out. I just don;t understand when people are going to wise up about traffic. YOu can’t build your way out of it and no matter how many lanes you build, it just forces people further away from their jobs and then ends up getting glogged up again.

But anyway, nothing is going to get build because transnet is under funded, per SANDAG’s up coming RTP.

[LostCat]

The 15 is already being built and will include a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line that will take people into downtown SD. So if that’s your commute, you’re in luck. Unfortunately SANDAG planned it wrong so it will still take you longer to commute by bus than car.

They are planning a 20 lane freeway along the 5 between 76 and 56, but it’s heading toward litigation. Too many homes will get whipped out. I just don;t understand when people are going to wise up about traffic. YOu can’t build your way out of it and no matter how many lanes you build, it just forces people further away from their jobs and then ends up getting glogged up again.

But anyway, nothing is going to get build because transnet is under funded, per SANDAG’s up coming RTP.

[sdrealtor]

AN
Funny question. I believe there was a central freeway proposed so time ago and an influential lobby (RSF) defeated it and got it buried.
SDR

[FormerOwner]

It seems that the old central-city model of urban planning works a LOT better than anything that’s come along since the invention of the automobile.

I agree that metro areas like San Diego will NEVER be able to add enough lanes to make traffic flow smoothly.

I’ve actually thought about moving back to San Francisco due to being able to get around on foot and public transportation vs driving – I find it a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. Now if they could do something about the homeless people asking you for money every 2 seconds, it would be ideal. The new mayor up there has initiated some changes in this regard but I’m not sure how much of a difference they will make.

[PerryChase]

Retiring is the urban core of a city such as San Francisco is ideal, IMHO. You can get rid of the car and the insurance that you seldom use. That leaves more money for personal spending.

[LostCat]

Wow,

It’s actually refreshing to hear people get it. Not to many people understand the terms urban core. And not to many people understand that you have to move to where transit works not expect it to reach out to the burbs and think it will for everyone.

PerryChase, you honestly have put my mind at peace now knowing that there are actually others out there that understand the benefit of a good mass-transit system and the importance of living in an area that is accessible to it.

This country has a long way to go before people understand that it is the landuse plans that make mass transit ineffective here in SD, not transit. Although, some past planners that worked at MTDB and SANDAG are clueless when it comes planning transit that works. You’ll see how badly they messed up with the I-15 project. Also the greenline trolley project that takes you from SDSU to Old Town and forces a transfer to get to downtown SD. The trip from Mission Valley to Downtown only takes an hour. What a great option… lol… Sometimes you just have the spend the money that it takes to build things right instead of trying to cut corners.. Thanks SANDAG.. idiots…

[sdcellar]

Maybe I have the wrong friends in San Francisco, but I didn’t see how we were supposed to get by without a car. I’ll admit there are a ton more cool urban neighborhoods there and we could walk for coffee (something I’m amazingly able to do here), but for them to get to jobs and school, they still had to get in cars or hop on motorcycles or whatever.

I’ll agree that mass transit seems much more effective there than in San Diego, but I’m still not sure it’s everything it’s cracked up to me. I haven’t exactly heard SF’ans sing the praises of their busses either.

[CardiffBaseball]

I don’t ride the coaster because of expense and inconvenience.

Backtrack to the Encinitas Station, pay $4.50 each way, and then on the way home you’d better hit the shuttle down to Sorrento Valley in time, and of course you wait another 30 minutes or so. I don’t think my Chevy Impala with gas oil and brakes wear and tear are that much.

[kewp]

I think there can be a middle ground.

I live in Hillcrest, take a free shuttle to UCSD (for work) and walk most places. I still have a car for errands and road trips. A tank of gas lasts me about six to eight weeks.

Looking towards the future I think I could manage a long commute with one of these babies…

http://www.flytheroad.com/

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