[Ash Housewares]

Another option similar to Lending Tree is Priceline Mortgage. Just enter some info and watch the banks’ offers come rolling in. I know someone who used this and was very happy with the results, though I didn’t grill them so I don’t know any of the specifics.

[Ash Housewares]

I don’t think this would ever get implemented. The unintended consequences are too obvious, even to someone who doesn’t know much such as myself. This will burn MBS investors, causing mortgage rates to go up, which puts more downward pressure on prices, leading to more foreclosures necessitating more “fixes”.

[Ash Housewares]

I don’t think this would ever get implemented. The unintended consequences are too obvious, even to someone who doesn’t know much such as myself. This will burn MBS investors, causing mortgage rates to go up, which puts more downward pressure on prices, leading to more foreclosures necessitating more “fixes”.

[Ash Housewares]

The USA attacking Iran would send oil prices off the charts

I think there’s a very good chance of this happening. Over then next couple months we’ll continue hearing stories about Iranian weapons and training supporting the insurgency in Iraq. This will be used as a justification to launch a small strike on a few Iranian targets. The Iranians will react to this and in doing so will give Bush some sort of justification for launching a much larger campaign in Iran. He does not want to leave office with the Iranians still working on nukes.

[Ash Housewares]

I gotta say that was pretty weak. Every minute of this woman’s life has been examined looking for controversy, and if the best you can find on such a lightning rod figure is some shady fund raising, that’s not too shabby.

Certainly no worse than (take your pick):
-using your father’s influence to avoid the draft and jump to the front of the line to get into the texas air guard
-receiving five (FIVE!) deferments to avoid vitnam
-soliciting gay sex from a stranger in a public restroom
-getting your jollies from your congressional pages
-taking bribes in return for defense contracts
-stashing 100k in bribes in your freezer

[Ash Housewares]

For those with time on their hands, this site will analyze your investment portfolio in terms of how risky your positions are for the return you’re getting:

http://www.riskgrades.com

You can get a free membership and run all kinds of “what if” scenarios with your portfolio. It will show much diversification is lowering your risk, all kinds of other things. Good for paring down the riskier positions in times like these.

[Ash Housewares]

Here’s an article which postulates that the boom-panic-boom-panic we’ve been seeing recently may continue for several decades.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/HowToRideTheBoomPanicCycle.aspx

If this is true, then simply waiting out this storm with cash on the sidelines may not be such a great idea. You could be waiting a long, long time for things to stabilize. For most investors (non pros, especially with long time horizons) the implication is that it is better to remain long in equities but become diversified.

[Ash Housewares]

The housing decline will almost certainly lead to a recession:
from http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/6/24/115349.shtml
“The International Monetary Fund analyzed home prices in a number of countries from 1970 to 2001, and found 20 “busts” – when real prices fell by almost 30 percent. All but one of those busts led to a recession.”

“Japanese property prices have fallen for 14 years in a row, by 40 percent from their peak in 1991, and consumer spending has been weak, leading The Economist to conclude, “Americans who believe that house prices can only go up and pose no risk to their economy would be well advised to look overseas.””

[Ash Housewares]

The housing decline will almost certainly lead to a recession:
from http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/6/24/115349.shtml
“The International Monetary Fund analyzed home prices in a number of countries from 1970 to 2001, and found 20 “busts” – when real prices fell by almost 30 percent. All but one of those busts led to a recession.”

“Japanese property prices have fallen for 14 years in a row, by 40 percent from their peak in 1991, and consumer spending has been weak, leading The Economist to conclude, “Americans who believe that house prices can only go up and pose no risk to their economy would be well advised to look overseas.””

[Ash Housewares]

I would probably be looking at a single condo, not multiple units. The rents run around $300 per week, so if I could buy the place for 150k and put 20% down my payment would be ~$1030 a month, less than I would pay in rent. Of course I haven’t a clue yet what property taxes run over there…

Here’s an example:
http://www.allrealestate.co.nz/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104161773&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&regionid=9101&c=33939061&s=nzni&snf=rbs&tm=1184968853

Thanks for the formula surveyor, I’m sure I’ll be using it for many years.

asragov I know NZ has it’s own bubble…I’m moving from one to another…they seem to be a few years behind the US in their bubble stage though. I’ll probably end up renting; this is more of a learning exercise for me.

[Ash Housewares]

I would probably be looking at a single condo, not multiple units. The rents run around $300 per week, so if I could buy the place for 150k and put 20% down my payment would be ~$1030 a month, less than I would pay in rent. Of course I haven’t a clue yet what property taxes run over there…

Here’s an example:
http://www.allrealestate.co.nz/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104161773&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&regionid=9101&c=33939061&s=nzni&snf=rbs&tm=1184968853

Thanks for the formula surveyor, I’m sure I’ll be using it for many years.

asragov I know NZ has it’s own bubble…I’m moving from one to another…they seem to be a few years behind the US in their bubble stage though. I’ll probably end up renting; this is more of a learning exercise for me.

[Ash Housewares]

I came across an economics professor’s impression of the video clip:

“Interesting, and certainly a very elaborate conspiracy theory. In making its argument, it pointedly avoids mentioning the efficiencies that financial intermediaries (banks) provide, money illusion and thus the facility of inflation in allowing real relative price changes, interest as a real compensation for delayed use of resources, or the sovereign power of government which no banker can usurp. I am also not convinced of the need for perpetual, geometric growth to sustain the fractional reserve system either, and certainly not as described…it is possible to have income and value growth without increasing the real rate of use of natural resources. Note how the argument provided carefully implies that the rape of the planet is a necessary outcome of fractional reserve systems by essentially ignoring productivity growth or technological progress.

I wasn’t able to get a full understanding of the alternative monetary system proposed, so I can’t really say it would be better or worse. I would say however than any such weighting would need to account for the fact that politicians are every bit as greedy and manipulative as bankers and its not clear a government-run monetary system would be less prone to abuse. And the idea of popular control of the monetary system in pure democratic fashion…oh dear.”

[Ash Housewares]

I came across an economics professor’s impression of the video clip:

“Interesting, and certainly a very elaborate conspiracy theory. In making its argument, it pointedly avoids mentioning the efficiencies that financial intermediaries (banks) provide, money illusion and thus the facility of inflation in allowing real relative price changes, interest as a real compensation for delayed use of resources, or the sovereign power of government which no banker can usurp. I am also not convinced of the need for perpetual, geometric growth to sustain the fractional reserve system either, and certainly not as described…it is possible to have income and value growth without increasing the real rate of use of natural resources. Note how the argument provided carefully implies that the rape of the planet is a necessary outcome of fractional reserve systems by essentially ignoring productivity growth or technological progress.

I wasn’t able to get a full understanding of the alternative monetary system proposed, so I can’t really say it would be better or worse. I would say however than any such weighting would need to account for the fact that politicians are every bit as greedy and manipulative as bankers and its not clear a government-run monetary system would be less prone to abuse. And the idea of popular control of the monetary system in pure democratic fashion…oh dear.”

[Ash Housewares]

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[Ash Housewares]

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