<p>I know many homeowners confused a credit line with having cash…</p>
<p>Big mistake…</p>
<p>One thing that bugs me is that investors are buying up many of the homes…not homeowners. That has ramifications for what kind of society we are going to live in…in the future. </p>
<p>I think that is going to be bad. Like the Laffer curve…there is a concentration of wealth curve…</p>
<p>When the concentration of wealth is in too few hands…the wealth of
society either declines or doesn’t meet its potential.</p>
<p>I haven’t written out the shape of the curve on a napkin…like Laffer did…</p>
<p>Confusing lines of credit with cash is indeed a mistake,but as a safety net, it is vital option…we have impeccable credit, but Chase closed our 500,000 line of credit several years ago,with no notice…</p>
<p>It could mean providing funds, providing housing for in-laws, parents, kids or others; loaning a car - basically the family supports when other member hit hard times.</p>
<p>Never drew on the 500,000 line, but liked having the access, and it cost nothing to have…now it costs XXX to establish one and a yearly fee of 50± dollars to keep open… We chose to forgo it…</p>
<p>“China’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time in two months on Thursday to bolster an economy widely expected to record its sixth-successive slide in growth in April-June.”</p>
<p>Probably much worse then they are indicating, China is due to release a slew of data next week, i believe, which will likley show problems…and i still think that even if the data they release is bad, it actually is much worse,since they never tell the full truth. ;)</p>
<p>I’m up 13.7% so far this year with a mainly buy and hold approach. Should have sold in May but life got in the way. The numbers in that article weren’t so good - I wonder if they cherry-picked bad returns. Some kind of average would have been nice.</p>
<p>I was up 22% earlier in the year - shouldn’t have given back so much.</p>
<p>I think overall…the returns are pretty bad this year…</p>
<p>The 2 and 20 payment system can really add up…for the hedge fund owners.</p>
<p>Private equity is sucking wind too. I have a friend in that field. He says private equity firms are trading assets with each other to keep the fees going. He would never invest in private equity. ;)</p>
<p>Ok, jobs number should be above consensus,whoopty do…Can we really think 110-125k number is good? It still stinks,in a huge way…stocks should react positively on an upside surprise,but it will be short lived…i think we now get to 11,500 this summer…i hate being this negative,but easy money,lack of wage increases,lack of jobs for those unemployed,historically low interest rates( which can’t get housing moving up in a meaningful way), all paint a dismal picture…</p>
<p>I am heading for a gambling weekend next week, i should get a feel for whats going on by restaurants,shows, table games, et al…</p>
<p>The market is up on the money-printing around the world.</p>
<p>No, 110-125K jobs stinks. It’s just better than nothing. But not by much. There are a few companies announcing large layoffs too - so there will be persistent headwinds through the rest of the year.</p>
<p>It looks like the market is going to close negative by a little today; I guess that’s the uncertainty before the jobs number.</p>
<p>Only a few years ago, landlords in cities like San Francisco and New York were tossing in a month or two of free rent, sometimes with parking, to lure tenants into signing leases.</p>
<p>Today, applicants are showing up at apartment viewings with copies of their unblemished credit reports and letters of recommendation from bosses and prominent friends, in the hopes of snatching up a place to rent.</p>
<p>Equity Residential (EQR.N), one of the biggest apartment owners in the United States, has more renters with high credit scores than ever, Vice President of Operations David Santee said on an April conference call with analysts.</p>
<p>BC, i think the affluent are not affected by the economic swings as much as the middle class, so it doesn’t surprise me that costly areas are seeing what you describe…</p>