Brain Droppings

“Buy when there’s blood running in the street.” ~Philippe de Rothschild

Here in America we have “zombie homeowners.” Millions of them. According to Zillow, a record 16.3 million families are upside-down on their home loans. Sixteen million! And many are a long way upside-down. Their homes may never be worth as much as their mortgage. But they are hemorrhaging cash to pay the nut every month.

Recovery? What recovery? This looks a bit like a depression to me.

What does this mean?

All the misery makes me think of a great French general, Ferdinand Foch. He’s the one who defended Paris at the Battle of the Marne in World War I. During the darkest hour of the fighting, he is supposed to have looked around him and said:

“Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent — I attack!”

In other words, when it comes to distressed housing, I’m finding it hard not to be a contrarian bull.

Labels: deflation, Depression, housing bubble, housing recovery

After Goodyear stole our blimp the large Goodyear hanger was used by Genesis to rehearse for their 1992 tour. Understandably, it was demolished shortly after that out of what I can only imagine was an overwhelming sense of shame.

Labels: funny

Falling gas prices. In an economy beset by deflation, housing and incomes, you really don't want prices to be falling. That is the purpose of quantitative easing- to buy all the treasury issuance so that the government can spend and try and make up for the loss of income that came from the housing bubble bursting. Of course, there is no chance that this will work. The federal gov't doesn't have enough credit/money to pull this off without risking debasing the currency which will drive prices up squeezing consumers.

If you detect a contradiction in there than you are right. You see they want prices to rise just not all prices. They want home prices to rise. They want wages to rise. Instead they are getting commodity prices to rise. And the stock market which is a good thing, in their minds. (I think the stock market is a giant trap waiting to suck in investors who feel left behind and can't live on the meager interest rates of treasuries and CDs.

Labels: deflation, Depression, Inflation

Although, I have a feeling that most people who go see this movie at least know the outline of the book.

I went to the movie with a sense of trepidation. I knew the critics were going to pan it but I expected the public to embrace it and, while a Passion of the Christ seemed a little too ambitious, I thought at least a good enough box office to more than pay for future films and a nice profit for the producer.

I did wait to go to the movie. I wanted to go the first weekend but life intervened. By the time I saw it on Monday there was no doubt that this movie was in trouble and it had a lukewarm reception even from some I had expected to like the movie. So I was pleasantly surprised when I did like the movie. In fact, I thought it was quite good. The novel can be plodding at times so I sort of expected the film to be more wordy than it was. Instead, Atlas Shrugged moved along at a decent pace and kept my interest even though I knew the plot cold. The acting was excellent. I especially liked Taylor Schilling as Dagny. (The last scene of the movie was a fitting end and she really makes you feel the pain of the moment.) For a film that was made on a shoestring budget there is no expectation of grand effects and there are none but the sets are grand and they do convey the soring message of the novel. They use TV broadcasts mostly for exposition which works well. And I thought the score was good.

If you haven't seen the movie, do so. If like me, you have had your expectations tamped down you will find a much grander experience.

Labels: Atlas Shrugged

Labels: diet, stupid

Labels: politics

Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.

Bin Laden's burial at sea "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.

A radical cleric in Lebanon, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said, "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration." [Emphasis added.]

Update: It just dawned on me that we missed a golden opportunity. We could have buried UBL in an unmarked grave and driven his supporters nuts trying to find it. Or we could have buried him somewhere really remote, Antarctica for example, and then let the nuts go on pilgrimage there. The trip alone would have killed off a good number of them.

Labels: No good deed goes unpunished.

Illinois is one of a few states where sales tax also applies to purchases of gasoline. That means there's an additional 6.5% tacked on to the price per gallon.

On the local level, analysts say Chicago may be the only major city that imposes a flat tax, 5 cents a gallon, on the sale of vehicle fuel to a retailer doing business in the city. That's on top of a 6-cent-per-gallon tax levied by Cook County.

Lastly, as most states do, Illinois slaps a small tax on gas stored underground to help pay for the environmental impact.

"Add it all up at today's prices, and the privilege of living in Chicago costs you 50 to 60 cents a gallon," said Sykuta.

Labels: Inflation, taxes

Labels: Friday Music