Get the wheelbarrows ready

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/34313/get-the-wheelbarrows-ready

The game is on. Two years of zero rates, limitless guarantees, and a $2 trillion drip-feed from the Fed, has lifted Wall Street from the canvas and put the speculators back in the thick-of-things. It's a miracle. Who would have thought that Bernanke could engineer another bubble this fast. But he has. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are increasing, LBO's (Leveraged buyouts) are on the rise, revolving credit ("plastic") is expanding, and investors are scarfing up low-yield junk bonds wherever they can find them.

Still can't believe it? Then, take a look at this from Businessweek:

"Home loans that inflated the U.S. housing bubble...are fueling the fastest gains in the mortgage-bond market....Prices for senior bonds tied to option adjustable-rate mortgages, called "toxic" by a government commission, typically jumped 6 cents to 64 cents on the dollar in the past month, according to Barclays Capital.

Rising values show Federal Reserve efforts to stimulate the economy by purchasing an additional $600 billion of Treasuries and holding interest rates near zero percent are driving investors into ever-riskier securities.....

More at the link --

[dionysus]

1. ah, yes, more disaster porn.

[MineralMan]

2. Ah, the Morning Doom & Gloom Report.

I like the comics in that paper best, though.

[dionysus]

3. some folks like milk in their breakfast cereal. others like lemon juice concentrate.

[MineralMan]

4. Well, my breakfast is Colon Blow and Prune Juice, so I'm no

judge, really. I cancelled my subscription to the Morning Doom & Gloom years ago, though.

[dionysus]

5. .

:rofl:

[Blue-Jay]

10. A "perpetual movement machine"?

Quick! Call the Patent Office!

[bvar22]

6. I'll give you a K&R.

My wife & I are glad we listened in 2006/2007.
We got out just in time.

My brother refused to believe that property values could decline.
"Never has. Never will. Hahaha"

He got stuck paying two mortgages on suburban property and a Beach Condo that are on the books at prices nobody will pay,
and paying property taxes on the inflated assessments.
The Beach Condo in Florida is a disaster...can't give it away and still paying taxes on it.
But on paper before 2007, it all looked so good....


It is wise to keep your ear to the ground these days.
Our government has really done nothing to prevent the next crash.
Even they admit that.

We reinvested in Bubble Proof rural property in The South,
and are living there now.
So far, so good!

[OhioChick]

7. Thanks for posting

K&R

[shanti]

8. a must-read post

this is the part that scares me:

"...The other big area of credit expansion is student loans, the government-backed scam of the century. The banksters have figured out how easy it is to swindle college-age kids with promises of hefty 6-figure salaries when the finish their 5-year stint at the for-profit Bunko University. Of course, when they finally graduate--drowning in red ink--they discover that their job has been outsourced to Bangalore and they're left with the prospect of either cleaning bedpans at the local retirement center or moving back in with the parents. Here's more from student loan expert Alan Nasser:

"The student loan industry is huge. It was announced last summer that total student loan debt, at $830 billion, now exceeds total US credit card debt, which is itself bloated to the bubble level of $827 billion. And student loan debt is growing at the rate of $90 billion a year....It estimated that over their lifetime between 19 and 31 percent of college freshmen and sophomores will default on their loans (depending on the type of loan and when it was taken on). For community college students, the prospects were grimmer still: between 30 and 42 percent were expected to default. And the future was most discouraging for students at for-profits: between 38 and 51 percent were anticipated to default."...

i know so many people taking out student loans that have no chance in the world of repaying them, but they have to eat NOW. :(

[bvar22]

9. In the 60s and 70s,

it was possible to attend your State University and graduate DEBT FREE
if you were willing to work a part time job.
This was The NORM, not the exception.

It would be possible to do that today
IF we had a political party that represented the Working Class.
We don't.

Civilized countries have Universal Public Education, even to graduate levels.
IN the USA, it has been turned into a For Profit SCAM.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."
---Paul Wellstone


"By their works you will know them."

[shanti]

11. that last quote

is on the money. god, do i miss paul wellstone!

back in the 80's, i was able to attend university while on welfare (3 kids, no help from father). i finished my junior year, but sadly, had to drop out due to circumstances out of my control. however, it was such a blessing to be able to get as many credits as i did, because it allowed me to obtain a FT job and eventually attain a higher employment level than would have been possible without college. that scenario is out of the picture for single mothers now. :(