food, oil... way up

Hungry?

Want to go places? do stuff?

Expect to pay more. remember the 70s... 80s? Yeah, like that.

Petrochem increases are at the danger threshold. Vegetables up 56% from a year ago... fruits up 29%.

See, the government tracks this stuff: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.htm

Does anyone in D.C. bother to read this stuff?

feed the bear

which way are home prices going?

Doom on you, home buyer

10 charts to scare the piss out of you prospective home buyers.

The Future

Mismanaged health care, rising costs.

Further housing market shocks and after shocks.

Employment stagnation.

Extended retail slump.

Double dip.

Civil War.

Revolution / Race War.

More Civil War.

Triple dip.

Eating of babies.

Trolling the Wasteland in search of petrol and dog food cans.

More upside down mortgages a comin'

Bring on the pain.

The 3 rules for dealing with police

Rule #1. never talk to cops.

Rule #2. See rule number 1.

Rule #3. rule 1 still in effect.

things i did this week to take my mind off of the shitty economy

1. behaved like an assclown dicking around on Facebook. (I do that every week)

2. worked on TOP SECRET Alternate Payments system.

3. made a fish... or a monster. a fish monster. fish.

TARP shenanigans

Congress LOVES their pork. They have even used the "emergency" TARP funds to buy 7 Billion worth of Magic Beans (and Pork).

A.D.D. glossary of NYC temporary markets and festivals. 2009 edition

Street Fair - funnel cakes and sausage.

San Gennaro Festival - a street fair in Little Italy, nicknamed the "San Perpetuo Festival", that seemingly runs for about 8 and a half months each year. Allegedly the highest density of sausage and cannoli in the known universe for the month of September.

Holiday Markets at parks - Tibetan jackets, Himalayan salt.

artist markets,
Handmade events,
Brooklyn Flea - hipter-ey Pow Wow of semi-Capitalist maker-sellers (ie - creative survivalism.)

"Pop up shop" - Big boxes attempting to avoid bankruptcy by cashing in on a "street" trend.

"Trunk Show" - An artist (or collective) getting out of the apartment for the day: taking a break from Hulu.com by hanging out at a friend's store and drinking alcohol.

cheap oil forever

Seriously, thats what is reported in an article at CNN Money.

"The world will never run out of oil"... Deutsche Bank analysts

They say efficiencies are increasing and that oil will average $65 a barrel in 2010.

2010 will definitely be an interesting year to see how all the various analyss play out regarding housing prices (40% drop), unemployment (11% or 13%) and oil (spiking or stable).

Feel lucky. Well do you punk?

thw winds of Change, REO brooklyn

In sort of a BAD part of town (Brownsville/Ocean Hill), this "TLC" property was listed at $599,000 just as little while ago


Confucius say: you can't polish a turd

It just landed on Trulia.com as a Bank-owned foreclosure, "Buyer Assumes All Hpd/Aep Violations And Penalties" charmer listing at $299,000.

again... that's an asking price dropping from around $600K to $300K.

Holy Crap.

What a difference a day makes.
_____________________
UPDATE April 4, 2010
at $289,900 ... no takers

the Estate Tax is expiring. Long Live the Estate Tax

Lawmakers are working on what new form it will take.

Most Republicans advocate for the lowest estate tax possible, but Democrats "are not of one mind on this," said Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte Tax.

"not of one mind on this"

That sort of describes the Dems on any issue. The kinder. gentler way of saying, "can't get their shit together on anything".

the brutal part of this ongoing flogging has not yet begun

Are you happy about the rise in home prices that have occurred in some places these past few months?

Well...

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in a Reuter's interview said, "Home prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, will trough in the third quarter of 2010 after declining 38 percent"

here are some other stats he was spouting:

"about 25 percent of single-family homes with mortgages have negative equity"

"7.5 million foreclosure sales will have taken place between 2006 and 2011. The majority of these sales, however, have not emerged yet, with 4.8 million foreclosure sales expected between 2009 and 2011"

"Foreclosure sales will increase, and home prices will resume their decline by early 2010 as mortgage servicers figure out who will not qualify for a modification"

oy.