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84 Comments
- duggdowncatisad, on 04/30/2008, -2/+17Wrong. The bubble artificially inflated prices across the board. We're just returning to reality. By definition, it is always possible to sell a house, or anything else, at fair market value.
- ghostfish, on 04/30/2008, -2/+15If you're a homeowner you're only hurt by this if you made a stupid decision to borrow more than you could afford in the first place or didn't understand what you were signing. If you're a company you know what you did was risky and stupid and you deserve it also. If you're the average and majority of Americans you're screwed through no action of your own because this mess tanked the entire economy.
- mikasaur, on 04/30/2008, -0/+12A private group gives it a mention? This is Fannie Mae, not just some stupid little mom and pop savings and loan. I think what the CEO of the largest source of U.S. mortgages is considered newsworthy...
- nullx42, on 04/30/2008, -3/+14"*****" Is more than appropriate.
- mckirkus, on 04/30/2008, -0/+10The guy who bought too much home won't get bailed out. The bank that lent too much money will get bailed out because if they don't the whole damn financial system will collapse (see Bear Stearns). It's not that the little guy is getting unduly screwed just that the banks aren't subject to consequences because of our goofy system.
- wakkow, on 04/30/2008, -1/+10People like me will. You know, the ones that didn't jump in because we knew we couldn't afford it and didn't try and do creative math to make it work. The ones that knew prices were artificially inflated and would eventually fall.
- StanleyKoolPrik, on 04/30/2008, -1/+8An economy based on finance = an economy based on illusion.
You are what you produce, and if you produce nothing but exotic financial schemes you're smoke. - jmpeagle, on 04/30/2008, -0/+71. default on 1 mortgage...you're a subprime borrower and your credit goes to @hit and the bank forecloses (as it should)
2. default on 1 million mortgages...you're Bear Stearns and for some reason deserve a government bail out....yay moral hazard problem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_hazard - inactive, on 04/30/2008, -0/+6Excellent. By that time the banks of the country/world will have come up with a NEW way to skirt the laws, screw us over, and themselves over as well.
- pintomp3, on 04/30/2008, -0/+6privatize the profit, socialize the loss. america has managed to combine the worst of both worlds.
- Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -0/+5I like to base my conclusions on facts and on past trends, not on pure emotion.
The indicators say that we're in for some pretty rough times, optimism be damned. Whether or not America will be over depends on what your personal definition of "over" is.
Will America persist as a nation-state? Sure. Will we just ride this out with only minimal disruption like we did the recessions in the early 70's and 90's? Not likely.
Problems can't be dealt with until people admit that problems exist. What we need right now are some hard-nosed pessimists who root out problems and solve them, not medicated optimists who insist that everything is hunky-dory. It's that illusion of invincibility that got us into trouble in the first place. - Y0tsuya, on 04/30/2008, -1/+6I'm not so sure about that. Financially responsible people with hard-earned savings in the bank are watching its value dwindle as we speak.
- Y0tsuya, on 04/30/2008, -0/+5You can add insult to injury by checking their credit and demand extra deposit due to their low scores.
- Photokon, on 04/30/2008, -0/+4your version of decent price is different than mine.
- stealthc, on 04/30/2008, -0/+4It's still true. You can't base an economy on borrowing money and washing each other's laundry.
- Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -1/+5If you use dollars you'll be hurt by this because your purchasing power is going to drop into the sub-basement. Everyone will be affected by this.
- ripple123, on 04/30/2008, -0/+4Omg. America IS still America! Whew. Thought we were in trouble for a sec there.
- RoboRay, on 04/30/2008, -0/+4No, but she had a nice Fannie.
- Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3Ah'm gonna buy me a house with a see-ment pond for all my critters.
- RoboRay, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3Who'll be buying them? Me, for one.
I sensibly looked at the obviously overinflated market early last year, thought it looked like a train wreck waiting to happen, and decided to rent for a couple of years before buying my first house. I'll be making a job-related move in 2010 anyway, and figured things would probably have sorted themselves out by then. With a little luck, I'll have things timed just right and can acquire a nice home at my new location. - bjornski, on 05/01/2008, -1/+4That's phrased a lot better. I'll digg that one up.
You're right. A nation that makes their income by delivering pizzas to each other and cashiering for each other isn't going anywhere.
We certainly don't manufacture anything anymore. America used to be great because we could make what we needed. Now we just pay the lowest bidder, and let the workers that used to make those items super-size our lunch for us. - Yez70, on 04/30/2008, -2/+5Nice thing is, people like you (myself included) will be able to buy the abundant and underpriced homes and rent them out to the losers who over financed and ended up with a foreclosure on their record.
- Gerz1219, on 04/30/2008, -6/+9I'm curious to see who is going to be buying all these existing houses in 2010, when we no longer have a middle class and a substantial number of potential buyers will have a foreclosure in their history.
The American housing market may never recover. It's possible we'll just get stuck with millions more homes than homeowners, and a lot of local governments that can't keep up a basic infrastructure after the tax shortfall. - Kooroo, on 04/30/2008, -6/+9to be fair, even if you're a responsible homeowner who is under a reasonable mortgage, you are affected in that you cannot sell your home at a decent market price because the housing panic is also artificially depressing home sale values all across the board.
- Y0tsuya, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3Considering that waves of suicide loans have their first resets right through the end of 2012, I fail to see how a recovery can begin by 2010.
- jmpeagle, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3no..he's going to be lambasted for the piss poor economy from 2009-2010 so that the midterm election in 2010 is going to give an overwhelming majority to the opposition party...which is good News for Americans because America is most prosperous when opposing parties control Congress and Presidency as they tend to not be spendthrifts due to opposing wishes for spending
- Shots, on 04/30/2008, -1/+4Sure, the US economy's screwed, but if you can make money investing in other things (like foreign stocks, or commodities etc) then you can avoid being hit too hard.
"It's great to have cash in a recession".
-The only memorable quote from my high school economics teacher - pintomp3, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3it didn't take very long for us to repeat the same mistakes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_cris ... - Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3Dugg for the educational link. This is like game theory.
- Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -2/+5Didn't you hear? America is invincible!
Don't ask why, it just is. Something about freedom and diversity and stuff. - Hangly, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3Are you maybe confusing Fannie Mae with Sarah Lee?
- jmpeagle, on 04/30/2008, -1/+3i'll probably be in the market in 2010. "The shrinking middle class" isn't really a shrining in absolute terms, just in percentage terms. Their numbers are still increasing just at a slower rate that population growth.
- bjornski, on 04/30/2008, -1/+3And a Bush was involved. And made millions.
So was a McCain. - bebo666, on 04/30/2008, -2/+4I think every American WISHES that they were part of the corporate climate. We're all getting *****, and you can get in line. Also, spell-check has really come a long way! Maffia FTW
- bjornski, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2***** off you spymac spamming piece of *****. Go die somewhere.
- bjornski, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2You must go into hysterics when someone near you farts.
- Y0tsuya, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2Each day I pray that the U.S. dollar doesn't turn into monopoly money and wipe out my savings. So far my prayers remain unanswered. Oh Chairman Bernanke, Why have you forsaken me?
- jmpeagle, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2he's british..."fannie"/"fanny" means "pussy"
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fan ...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fan ... - verevi, on 04/30/2008, -6/+8Hey, I just went outside and it turns out the sky hasn't fallen yet. Just FYI.
- wmrice, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2This is a business cycle and is an intrinsic characteristic of free market economies. We have seen it before many times, most recently in the late 90s. It is simply caused by a losing and tighting of money supply (credit) in the mortgage market. Cycles are also defined by roughly equal peaks and valleys of the cycle. So, it follows that after the longest refinance boom in history (fueled by some bad decisions made specifically to unnaturally extend the good cycle) we will have to endure an unnaturally extended and deep downturn. It can't last forever. Banks and investors have to make profits, which will again loosen the credit standards and the cycle will begin again.
- inactive, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1You are correct sir!
- VitriolAndAngst, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1Yes, some people will find a benefit from the low prices -- but you shouldn't even buy now if you don't have to. The poor folks went first -- because they had the least margin to cover the loans. But the next shoe to drop will be $750,000 homes in California because people will owe more than they are worth. What happens after that? Every play dominoes?
Meanwhile, other countries will be buying up our infrastructure because the payments on our debt cannot stop. When we finally get to the bottom where we can recover -- it will be a different situation from previous declines -- because we won't be the owners of America. - hwy9nightkid, on 04/30/2008, -1/+2and then deport them, yay go back to china/mexico/africa
/sarcasm - TylerDCA, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1More concern then when the mortgage market returns to profitability is whether the Fed can keep inflation in check. The price of oil and raising food prices is to a certain point going to curtail their ability to lower interest rates further, and a certain point will demand that interest rates will be raised. The US may just have to have ride this out.
- rebelcapitalist, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1I agree with the business cycle stuff. But individuals are less resilient to business cycles then businesses. There will be a huge loss of middle class wealth in the form of housing values before this is over.
- OfNumbers, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1The very same Wiki: "In 1968, to help balance the federal budget, Fannie Mae was converted into a private corporation."
- trollick, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1Well, at least price of gas is going up. Which must be good, right?
- 00barbarella00, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1I'd rather this be about the candy...
http://www.fanniemay.com/ - heystoopid, on 04/30/2008, -1/+2What an optimist , recovery by 2010 man is both incompetent and deluded to issue that crazy dysfunctional report !
- OfNumbers, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1How do you explain this mom and pop *****? http://www.nydis.org/NYDISnet/images/logo_Fannie_M ...
"In 1968, to help balance the federal budget, Fannie Mae was converted into a private corporation." -
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