[pencilneck]

At least he learned a valuable lesson:

“Where I went wrong is I invested heavily in an area that wasn’t my passion and I had a really demanding full-time job so I couldn’t pay attention to nuances”

His real failure was in not quitting that pesky full-time job. If he had only had enough time to pursue the market’s nuances…

Better luck next bubble.

[pencilneck]

At least he learned a valuable lesson:

“Where I went wrong is I invested heavily in an area that wasn’t my passion and I had a really demanding full-time job so I couldn’t pay attention to nuances”

His real failure was in not quitting that pesky full-time job. If he had only had enough time to pursue the market’s nuances…

Better luck next bubble.

[pencilneck]

At least he learned a valuable lesson:

“Where I went wrong is I invested heavily in an area that wasn’t my passion and I had a really demanding full-time job so I couldn’t pay attention to nuances”

His real failure was in not quitting that pesky full-time job. If he had only had enough time to pursue the market’s nuances…

Better luck next bubble.

[pencilneck]

At least he learned a valuable lesson:

“Where I went wrong is I invested heavily in an area that wasn’t my passion and I had a really demanding full-time job so I couldn’t pay attention to nuances”

His real failure was in not quitting that pesky full-time job. If he had only had enough time to pursue the market’s nuances…

Better luck next bubble.

[pencilneck]

“Bankers and housing analysts say many homeowners, owing more than their homes are worth, are defaulting on their loans even when they can afford payments. But no hard numbers back up their claims.”

Defaults are easy to measure, but its much harder to calculate the causes of defaults. Especially when measuring something as nebulous as “affordability.” I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss “walking away” as a myth because banks don’t have hard evidence to prove it, but its an interesting argument.

Also, there hasn’t been much recent discussion of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in which the IRS makes it much easier to walk away from mortgage loan obligations by not requiring mortgage holders to pay income tax on forgiven debt. This act makes it far more advantageous to “walk away” if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth, and in my opinion is significantly contributing to the increase in defaults.

The act expires in 2009, after which time I expect default rates to return to more historical norms (whatever those are). Until this act expires, walking away is a very advantageous choice to those that are underwater on their loans.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

[pencilneck]

“Bankers and housing analysts say many homeowners, owing more than their homes are worth, are defaulting on their loans even when they can afford payments. But no hard numbers back up their claims.”

Defaults are easy to measure, but its much harder to calculate the causes of defaults. Especially when measuring something as nebulous as “affordability.” I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss “walking away” as a myth because banks don’t have hard evidence to prove it, but its an interesting argument.

Also, there hasn’t been much recent discussion of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in which the IRS makes it much easier to walk away from mortgage loan obligations by not requiring mortgage holders to pay income tax on forgiven debt. This act makes it far more advantageous to “walk away” if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth, and in my opinion is significantly contributing to the increase in defaults.

The act expires in 2009, after which time I expect default rates to return to more historical norms (whatever those are). Until this act expires, walking away is a very advantageous choice to those that are underwater on their loans.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

[pencilneck]

“Bankers and housing analysts say many homeowners, owing more than their homes are worth, are defaulting on their loans even when they can afford payments. But no hard numbers back up their claims.”

Defaults are easy to measure, but its much harder to calculate the causes of defaults. Especially when measuring something as nebulous as “affordability.” I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss “walking away” as a myth because banks don’t have hard evidence to prove it, but its an interesting argument.

Also, there hasn’t been much recent discussion of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in which the IRS makes it much easier to walk away from mortgage loan obligations by not requiring mortgage holders to pay income tax on forgiven debt. This act makes it far more advantageous to “walk away” if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth, and in my opinion is significantly contributing to the increase in defaults.

The act expires in 2009, after which time I expect default rates to return to more historical norms (whatever those are). Until this act expires, walking away is a very advantageous choice to those that are underwater on their loans.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

[pencilneck]

“Bankers and housing analysts say many homeowners, owing more than their homes are worth, are defaulting on their loans even when they can afford payments. But no hard numbers back up their claims.”

Defaults are easy to measure, but its much harder to calculate the causes of defaults. Especially when measuring something as nebulous as “affordability.” I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss “walking away” as a myth because banks don’t have hard evidence to prove it, but its an interesting argument.

Also, there hasn’t been much recent discussion of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in which the IRS makes it much easier to walk away from mortgage loan obligations by not requiring mortgage holders to pay income tax on forgiven debt. This act makes it far more advantageous to “walk away” if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth, and in my opinion is significantly contributing to the increase in defaults.

The act expires in 2009, after which time I expect default rates to return to more historical norms (whatever those are). Until this act expires, walking away is a very advantageous choice to those that are underwater on their loans.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

[pencilneck]

“Bankers and housing analysts say many homeowners, owing more than their homes are worth, are defaulting on their loans even when they can afford payments. But no hard numbers back up their claims.”

Defaults are easy to measure, but its much harder to calculate the causes of defaults. Especially when measuring something as nebulous as “affordability.” I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss “walking away” as a myth because banks don’t have hard evidence to prove it, but its an interesting argument.

Also, there hasn’t been much recent discussion of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, in which the IRS makes it much easier to walk away from mortgage loan obligations by not requiring mortgage holders to pay income tax on forgiven debt. This act makes it far more advantageous to “walk away” if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth, and in my opinion is significantly contributing to the increase in defaults.

The act expires in 2009, after which time I expect default rates to return to more historical norms (whatever those are). Until this act expires, walking away is a very advantageous choice to those that are underwater on their loans.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

[pencilneck]

There has been a lot of talk about how the Democratic runoff is hurting the Democratic candidates, but I have a different take on that. What they are doing, deliberately or not, is airing all of their dirty laundry before confronting McCain. In doing so, they may be able to avoid another 11th hour Swiftboat like attack.

The Rev. Wright issue, for example, while far from over may be largely forgotten by the time the actual election rolls around. Obama’s Rev. Wright connection would probably have destroyed his chances for election if it were revealed a few months from now, but he still probably has time to recover. If he’s still in the race.

Speaking of conspiracies and “Who benefited from the housing bubble going on for so long?” isn’t it amusing that Greenspan is an advisor to a hedgefund that is cashing in on the credit market collapse? After years of telling the American people how exotic lending made our economy stronger, he is now reaping profit from the system’s failure. God bless him and our country.

[pencilneck]

There has been a lot of talk about how the Democratic runoff is hurting the Democratic candidates, but I have a different take on that. What they are doing, deliberately or not, is airing all of their dirty laundry before confronting McCain. In doing so, they may be able to avoid another 11th hour Swiftboat like attack.

The Rev. Wright issue, for example, while far from over may be largely forgotten by the time the actual election rolls around. Obama’s Rev. Wright connection would probably have destroyed his chances for election if it were revealed a few months from now, but he still probably has time to recover. If he’s still in the race.

Speaking of conspiracies and “Who benefited from the housing bubble going on for so long?” isn’t it amusing that Greenspan is an advisor to a hedgefund that is cashing in on the credit market collapse? After years of telling the American people how exotic lending made our economy stronger, he is now reaping profit from the system’s failure. God bless him and our country.

[pencilneck]

There has been a lot of talk about how the Democratic runoff is hurting the Democratic candidates, but I have a different take on that. What they are doing, deliberately or not, is airing all of their dirty laundry before confronting McCain. In doing so, they may be able to avoid another 11th hour Swiftboat like attack.

The Rev. Wright issue, for example, while far from over may be largely forgotten by the time the actual election rolls around. Obama’s Rev. Wright connection would probably have destroyed his chances for election if it were revealed a few months from now, but he still probably has time to recover. If he’s still in the race.

Speaking of conspiracies and “Who benefited from the housing bubble going on for so long?” isn’t it amusing that Greenspan is an advisor to a hedgefund that is cashing in on the credit market collapse? After years of telling the American people how exotic lending made our economy stronger, he is now reaping profit from the system’s failure. God bless him and our country.

[pencilneck]

There has been a lot of talk about how the Democratic runoff is hurting the Democratic candidates, but I have a different take on that. What they are doing, deliberately or not, is airing all of their dirty laundry before confronting McCain. In doing so, they may be able to avoid another 11th hour Swiftboat like attack.

The Rev. Wright issue, for example, while far from over may be largely forgotten by the time the actual election rolls around. Obama’s Rev. Wright connection would probably have destroyed his chances for election if it were revealed a few months from now, but he still probably has time to recover. If he’s still in the race.

Speaking of conspiracies and “Who benefited from the housing bubble going on for so long?” isn’t it amusing that Greenspan is an advisor to a hedgefund that is cashing in on the credit market collapse? After years of telling the American people how exotic lending made our economy stronger, he is now reaping profit from the system’s failure. God bless him and our country.

[pencilneck]

There has been a lot of talk about how the Democratic runoff is hurting the Democratic candidates, but I have a different take on that. What they are doing, deliberately or not, is airing all of their dirty laundry before confronting McCain. In doing so, they may be able to avoid another 11th hour Swiftboat like attack.

The Rev. Wright issue, for example, while far from over may be largely forgotten by the time the actual election rolls around. Obama’s Rev. Wright connection would probably have destroyed his chances for election if it were revealed a few months from now, but he still probably has time to recover. If he’s still in the race.

Speaking of conspiracies and “Who benefited from the housing bubble going on for so long?” isn’t it amusing that Greenspan is an advisor to a hedgefund that is cashing in on the credit market collapse? After years of telling the American people how exotic lending made our economy stronger, he is now reaping profit from the system’s failure. God bless him and our country.

[pencilneck]

A response to donald duck:

Our inflation numbers leave a lot out, and directly comparing US inflation with China’s inflation is comparing apples and oranges. China’s inflation numbers generally include the price of food, for example. If we included food and energy in our inflation numbers I think our inflation would look a lot closer to China’s.

[Author]

Posts