Financial Crisis

[ExpatJ]

I have a Buy to Let property and i worked hard to earn money to buy it.

Having said that, there is a problem in that the the top end of society- politicians, bankers, wealthy professionals, all benefit from the modern economy which they all own and run. The Bottom 80% are being left behind and most of them do not understand what is happening- that the top 20% are using govt tax payer funds to support banks and the financial system to the benefit of the top 20%. Thankfully me and my family are in the top 20%, but i hate to see what is happening. I give it less than 100 years before the top 20% live in gated cities/countries (Singapore with 15% population being millionaire is a good example of an emerging rich enclave, Manhattan, London could also be easily gated) while the poor will live in slum like, un policed areas , with some bused into to the rich communities to provide service sector employment.

that 15% of Singapores citizens are millionaires is extremely misleading because that includes the property value in which these "millionaires" are living, a value that is totally irrelevant if no additonal million or millions exist.

Well if it includes property values then it will be much more than 15%. Costs a million $ to get a standard 2-3 br apartment in new building these days!

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spend a week in Singapore, look around and find out how wrong you are.

I was there last week looking at condos to buy! I won't be buying in the near future.....

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[Naam]

I was there last week looking at condos to buy! I won't be buying in the near future.....

a wise decision!

[Loptr]

Dubai rolling over and entering bear market territory on the news that Arabtec shares are in a free-fall...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-24/dubai-stocks-extend-rout-with-biggest-decline-since-2008.html

The DFM General Index fell 6.7 percent, the most since August, to 4,009.01 at the close in the emirate as 12 stocks lost more than 9 percent, amid speculation leveraged traders liquidated positions as the index fell 25 percent from its May peak. Arabtec dropped 9.8 percent to the lowest since January after the company confirmed it cut staff. People familiar with the matter said yesterday the company’s chief operating officer, chief information officer and chief risk officer have been fired.

“Selling pressure on Arabtec is causing margin calls on retail investor accounts, hence the big move down across the U.A.E. as a whole,” Nayal Khan, head of institutional sales and trading at the Naeem Holding brokerage in Dubai, said by e-mail.

[SheungWan]

I was there last week looking at condos to buy! I won't be buying in the near future.....

a wise decision!

Property fun in Singapore and Hong Kong juddered to a halt with the imposition of the additional non-resident ID property taxes. Prices in both markets quite resilient subsequently but liquidity drained away. Some opportunities if you know your areas, but the entry prices still way above what can be bought in Thailand.

Edited June 25, 2014 by SheungWan

[SheungWan]

You've had long enough to get over sour grapes, what is your problem, winners are winners, end of!

i stated a fact and personally couldn't care less who wins or lose some peasant sports.

You are more of a Henley Regatta fan then?

[midas]

Dubai rolling over and entering bear market territory on the news that Arabtec shares are in a free-fall...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-24/dubai-stocks-extend-rout-with-biggest-decline-since-2008.html

The DFM General Index fell 6.7 percent, the most since August, to 4,009.01 at the close in the emirate as 12 stocks lost more than 9 percent, amid speculation leveraged traders liquidated positions as the index fell 25 percent from its May peak. Arabtec dropped 9.8 percent to the lowest since January after the company confirmed it cut staff. People familiar with the matter said yesterday the company’s chief operating officer, chief information officer and chief risk officer have been fired.

“Selling pressure on Arabtec is causing margin calls on retail investor accounts, hence the big move down across the U.A.E. as a whole,” Nayal Khan, head of institutional sales and trading at the Naeem Holding brokerage in Dubai, said by e-mail.

'Eerily quiet': Wall Street activity spooking investors

Investors are borrowing money more than ever to buy stocks. Sales of "junk"

bonds from the riskiest companies are at a record. Some investors are so

heedless now that they're willing to accept rock-bottom interest payments to

lend to risky countries.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/eerily-quiet-wall-street-activity-spooking-investors-20140625-3asg7.html

Edited June 25, 2014 by midas

[midas]

tick tock………………..

America's Looming Pension Disaster?

America’s sprawling 401(k) pension system will turn cash flow negative in 2016, threatening disruption for asset managers and selling of equities, according to analysis by Cerulli Associates, a research house.

http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2014/06/americas-looming-pension-disaster.html

Well, read your link again. It sounds like the 401k fund managers will hurt as fund balances go down due to baby boomers retiring. The good thing about 401k's is that they are individually identified by person, as each person and employer contributes.

As for public retirement funds, that's different because they don't actually put enough money into them to back up their promises. Many government entities have made retirement promises that they probably can't keep. Many public employees double dip as they draw their government employee pension and also draw full Social Security. Often their government pension is about equal to the salary they were getting when working. So they get a big raise when they retire by adding Social Security income.

Frankly I don't mind if those "civil servants" get their snouts jerked back from the trough.

I just read this comment by someone- do you agree with what they say?

" You stock holders need to sell and sell quick, because you are holding Public Pension fund Debt, that is why these stocks will never gain any price value, and once the million's of other's find this out, your stock will become worthless,it is already, you just don't know this.All it is now, is Public Pension fund debt.The US is secretly paying public and union pension funds, with the company profit's, owed to the largest share holder ,without his permission,how long do you think the US can Maintain this? sell now, and move it or lose it.I have made more money than anyone in the commodoties market, and the stock market, and if I,am telling you this, to save your money, from certain loss, take this advice.Find a safe investment, other than stock's."

[Naam]

You've had long enough to get over sour grapes, what is your problem, winners are winners, end of!

i stated a fact and personally couldn't care less who wins or lose some peasant sports.

You are more of a Henley Regatta fan then?

not really. i consider a regatta nearly as boring as cricket, baseball and mending old socks.

[SheungWan]

tick tock………………..

America's Looming Pension Disaster?

America’s sprawling 401(k) pension system will turn cash flow negative in 2016, threatening disruption for asset managers and selling of equities, according to analysis by Cerulli Associates, a research house.

http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2014/06/americas-looming-pension-disaster.html

Well, read your link again. It sounds like the 401k fund managers will hurt as fund balances go down due to baby boomers retiring. The good thing about 401k's is that they are individually identified by person, as each person and employer contributes.

As for public retirement funds, that's different because they don't actually put enough money into them to back up their promises. Many government entities have made retirement promises that they probably can't keep. Many public employees double dip as they draw their government employee pension and also draw full Social Security. Often their government pension is about equal to the salary they were getting when working. So they get a big raise when they retire by adding Social Security income.

Frankly I don't mind if those "civil servants" get their snouts jerked back from the trough.

I just read this comment by someone- do you agree with what they say?

" You stock holders need to sell and sell quick, because you are holding Public Pension fund Debt, that is why these stocks will never gain any price value, and once the million's of other's find this out, your stock will become worthless,it is already, you just don't know this.All it is now, is Public Pension fund debt.The US is secretly paying public and union pension funds, with the company profit's, owed to the largest share holder ,without his permission,how long do you think the US can Maintain this? sell now, and move it or lose it.I have made more money than anyone in the commodoties market, and the stock market, and if I,am telling you this, to save your money, from certain loss, take this advice.Find a safe investment, other than stock's."

The above stock tipster appears to have had a grammar bypass. Not untypical of denizens from the end of the world but hardly reassuring.

[midas]

tick tock………………..

America's Looming Pension Disaster?

http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2014/06/americas-looming-pension-disaster.html

Well, read your link again. It sounds like the 401k fund managers will hurt as fund balances go down due to baby boomers retiring. The good thing about 401k's is that they are individually identified by person, as each person and employer contributes.

As for public retirement funds, that's different because they don't actually put enough money into them to back up their promises. Many government entities have made retirement promises that they probably can't keep. Many public employees double dip as they draw their government employee pension and also draw full Social Security. Often their government pension is about equal to the salary they were getting when working. So they get a big raise when they retire by adding Social Security income.

Frankly I don't mind if those "civil servants" get their snouts jerked back from the trough.

I just read this comment by someone- do you agree with what they say?

" You stock holders need to sell and sell quick, because you are holding Public Pension fund Debt, that is why these stocks will never gain any price value, and once the million's of other's find this out, your stock will become worthless,it is already, you just don't know this.All it is now, is Public Pension fund debt.The US is secretly paying public and union pension funds, with the company profit's, owed to the largest share holder ,without his permission,how long do you think the US can Maintain this? sell now, and move it or lose it.I have made more money than anyone in the commodoties market, and the stock market, and if I,am telling you this, to save your money, from certain loss, take this advice.Find a safe investment, other than stock's."

The Hidden Danger in Public Pension Funds

Their investments expose government budgets and taxpayers to 10 times more risk than in 1975.

The threat that public-employee pensions pose to state and local government finances is well known—witness the federal ruling earlier this month that Detroit's pension obligations are not sacrosanct in a municipal bankruptcy. Less well known is that pensions are larger and their investments riskier than at any point since public employees began unionizing in earnest nearly half a century ago.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303789604579196100329273892

Edited June 25, 2014 by midas

[ronz28]

Where there is risk, there is profit. The investment portfolio managers running pension money are mostly a lot better at it then people trying to make it on their own in a self directed investment plans. They don't bail out at the bottom of market declines because they are in it for the long term and make investment decisions with that in mind. Re-balancing investment portfolios to a proper strategic asset allocation goal keeps them raking in the profits for the long term as money rotates to the latest fad. What hurts some of these plans are lack of controls on benefits like no caps on annuities, gaming overtime pay to inflate earnings during final years of employment used as a basis for annuity calculations, etc.

Edited June 25, 2014 by ronz28

[mccw]

First quarter US GDP revised to a contraction of 2.9%.

[mccw]

^btw- That's biggest since the global financial crises kicked off

[midas]

^btw- That's biggest since the global financial crises kicked off

Guess this means QE forever.

[lannarebirth]

^btw- That's biggest since the global financial crises kicked off

Guess this means QE forever.

Overlooking Herr Naam's sacrilegious comments about baseball:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-laderman/is-baseball-sacred_b_3033183.html

I would just point out to you that the US is about to enter the 3rd Quarter and whatever happened in Q1 is pretty much irrelevant.

[Naam]

^btw- That's biggest since the global financial crises kicked off

Guess this means QE forever.

Overlooking Herr Naam's sacrilegious comments about baseball:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-laderman/is-baseball-sacred_b_3033183.html

I would just point out to you that the US is about to enter the 3rd Quarter and whatever happened in Q1 is pretty much irrelevant.

i'd have much more problems if my wife ever reads my sacrilegious comments about cricket.

[midas]

^btw- That's biggest since the global financial crises kicked off

Guess this means QE forever.

Overlooking Herr Naam's sacrilegious comments about baseball:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-laderman/is-baseball-sacred_b_3033183.html

I would just point out to you that the US is about to enter the 3rd Quarter and whatever happened in Q1 is pretty much irrelevant.

the USA could always go back to free-market capitalism rather than a Fed-controlled, centrally planned economy?

[JesseFrank]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html China Builds Its Own Manhattan -- Except It's a Ghost Town

“There will have to be a reckoning,” said Stephen Green, head of Greater China research at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong. Sales of bonds by local-government vehicles to repay bank loans are just “buying time,” he said. “The people will pay” for it through bank bailouts, recapitalization with public money or inflation.

[MJP]

Nick Hanauer sees pitchforks . . .

At the same time that people like you and me are thriving beyond the dreams of any plutocrats in history, the rest of the country—the 99.99 percent—is lagging far behind. The divide between the haves and have-nots is getting worse really, really fast. In 1980, the top 1 percent controlled about 8 percent of U.S. national income. The bottom 50 percent shared about 18 percent. Today the top 1 percent share about 20 percent; the bottom 50 percent, just 12 percent.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014.html#.U66XAfldVWe

Edited June 28, 2014 by MJP

[Naam]

“There will have to be a reckoning,” said Stephen Green, head of Greater China research at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong. Sales of bonds by local-government vehicles to repay bank loans are just “buying time,” he said. “The people will pay” for it through bank bailouts, recapitalization with public money or inflation.

the people have always paid. what's new?

[midas]

Nick Hanauer sees pitchforks . . .

At the same time that people like you and me are thriving beyond the dreams of any plutocrats in history, the rest of the country—the 99.99 percent—is lagging far behind. The divide between the haves and have-nots is getting worse really, really fast. In 1980, the top 1 percent controlled about 8 percent of U.S. national income. The bottom 50 percent shared about 18 percent. Today the top 1 percent share about 20 percent; the bottom 50 percent, just 12 percent.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014.html#.U66XAfldVWe

Nick Hanauer is a billionaire so I find it interesting that he is warning his fellow American citizens like this......

And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.

And here is another billionaire Mark Cuban warning about the looming meltdown in US college education.

Billionaire business magnate Mark Cuban is warning that higher education is on a course to melt down, just as the housing market did in 2008. The similarities between the housing bust and the coming higher education bust are eerie, Cuban states.

http://findonlineeducation.com/follow/mark-cuban-meltdown-in-college-education-is-coming-and-online-ed-is-the-answer/

[watcharacters]

.

I've been broke all my life and I'm still working three jobs just to stay broke. 555

[MJP]

Report just on telly saying 44% of college kids in the US drop out.

[midas]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html China Builds Its Own Manhattan -- Except It's a Ghost Town

“There will have to be a reckoning,” said Stephen Green, head of Greater China research at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong. Sales of bonds by local-government vehicles to repay bank loans are just “buying time,” he said. “The people will pay” for it through bank bailouts, recapitalization with public money or inflation.

Quite bizarre, and then there's this

China Finds $15 Billion of Loans Backed by Fake Gold Trades

China’s chief auditor discovered 94.4 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) of loans backed by falsified gold transactions, adding to signs of possible fraud in commodities financing deals. As much as 1,000 metric tons of gold may have been used in lending and leasing deals in China, where commodities including metals and agricultural products are used to get credit amid lending restrictions, according to World Gold Council estimates.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-finds-15b-of-loans-backed-by-falsified-gold-trades.html

[Cashboy]

MJP

I would vote for you;

But only if you promise to give the new council houses to reward hard workers, low and medium income workers (maybe eligible after 3 years of not claiming benefits) rather than the bone idle layabouts and irresponsible by choice.

It's the working people that need them. It's working people I'm on about.

I run a demolition crew in the UK at the moment. A skilled demolition driver and operative with full asbestos supervisor ticket, CCDO excavator >15m demo ticket and first aid, 30 years experience is on £9/hour. These boys have been crawling round on their hands and knees picking up asbestos until 9pm at night and the firm refuses them overtime, as in they don't even get paid for these extra hours.

They typically pay £850 a month just in rent (south east) and after tax and costs these boys are just going deeper into debt. Many suffer depression.

One of the bosses went into London last week with a mate and spent £1800 on lunch for the two of them.

UK's lost its way.

[SheungWan]

MJP

I would vote for you;

But only if you promise to give the new council houses to reward hard workers, low and medium income workers (maybe eligible after 3 years of not claiming benefits) rather than the bone idle layabouts and irresponsible by choice.

It's the working people that need them. It's working people I'm on about.

I run a demolition crew in the UK at the moment. A skilled demolition driver and operative with full asbestos supervisor ticket, CCDO excavator >15m demo ticket and first aid, 30 years experience is on £9/hour. These boys have been crawling round on their hands and knees picking up asbestos until 9pm at night and the firm refuses them overtime, as in they don't even get paid for these extra hours.

They typically pay £850 a month just in rent (south east) and after tax and costs these boys are just going deeper into debt. Many suffer depression.

One of the bosses went into London last week with a mate and spent £1800 on lunch for the two of them.

UK's lost its way.

I'm still waiting to hear where exactly they went for lunch.

[MJP]

MJP

I would vote for you;

But only if you promise to give the new council houses to reward hard workers, low and medium income workers (maybe eligible after 3 years of not claiming benefits) rather than the bone idle layabouts and irresponsible by choice.

It's the working people that need them. It's working people I'm on about.

I run a demolition crew in the UK at the moment. A skilled demolition driver and operative with full asbestos supervisor ticket, CCDO excavator >15m demo ticket and first aid, 30 years experience is on £9/hour. These boys have been crawling round on their hands and knees picking up asbestos until 9pm at night and the firm refuses them overtime, as in they don't even get paid for these extra hours.

They typically pay £850 a month just in rent (south east) and after tax and costs these boys are just going deeper into debt. Many suffer depression.

One of the bosses went into London last week with a mate and spent £1800 on lunch for the two of them.

UK's lost its way.

I'm still waiting to hear where exactly they went for lunch.

So am I.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MJP]

MJP

I would vote for you;

But only if you promise to give the new council houses to reward hard workers, low and medium income workers (maybe eligible after 3 years of not claiming benefits) rather than the bone idle layabouts and irresponsible by choice.

It's the working people that need them. It's working people I'm on about.

I run a demolition crew in the UK at the moment. A skilled demolition driver and operative with full asbestos supervisor ticket, CCDO excavator >15m demo ticket and first aid, 30 years experience is on £9/hour. These boys have been crawling round on their hands and knees picking up asbestos until 9pm at night and the firm refuses them overtime, as in they don't even get paid for these extra hours.

They typically pay £850 a month just in rent (south east) and after tax and costs these boys are just going deeper into debt. Many suffer depression.

One of the bosses went into London last week with a mate and spent £1800 on lunch for the two of them.

UK's lost its way.

I'm still waiting to hear where exactly they went for lunch.

So am I.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Naam]

Brent Crude up YTD.........1.88%

WTI Crude up YTD..........5.08%

CR_ISIS caliphate?!

[midas]

Canada = la la land

Guaranteed $20K income for all Canadians endorsed by academics

A group of academics and activists is trying to drum up interest in an ambitious plan to provide every Canadian with a guaranteed minimum level of income — whether or not they have a job.

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/guaranteed-dollar20k-income-for-all-canadians-endorsed-by-academics

Edited July 1, 2014 by midas