TMFTheDoctor (80.08)

Hello, I will try to blog now

July 07, 2010 – Comments (0)

Okay about 1.5 years ago I apparently said I was going to start blogging as I clawed my score back. Well, I did claw my score back (I am happily an All Star again and have held my ~85 rating for a few months now), but I didn't blog anything about it. I am sorry, dear friends. I will make it up to you with some links and hopefully try to start providing some commentary.

 Here's what I've been reading today:

Boston homesellers are cutting prices (http://bit.ly/aeP1d7)

With the housing credit gone, sellers in Boston have been slashing prices in amounts greatly exceeding the $8,000 credit, indicating that it was prudent for buyers to actually wait and not get the credit. However, spot checking other US cities on Trulia trends (the article's source) seems to show mostly flat or even increasing prices, so it's hard to draw a conclusion.

Meanwhile, the Refinance Index is at the highest since May 2009 (http://bit.ly/d3gtLp)

Homeowners who are actually eligible (read: not underwater) are locking in record low mortgage rates, but new buying is still extraordinarily low. This should help those in a home already actually stay there, but those in danger of foreclosure won't get much help as they'll be ineligible. A bit of a catch-22.

In other news, the United States is not going to go bankrupt any time soon (http://bit.ly/aOOamK)

The Pragmatic Capitalist provides an excellent counterargument to David Einhorn, explaining why the inflationistas are essentially fearmongering gold peddlers and why the United States in no way has the problem Greece and other troubled EU states have. Take-home quote: "... the United States cannot go bankrupt unless we decide to!"

And, somewhat related, global business is going to the mattresses -- to hide cash in (http://bit.ly/b91dbm)

American companies have about $1.6 trillion on deposit sitting idle and earning almost nothing. This is money that is being used as a bulwark, a cash refuge if the economy double dips, but the irony is that if they actually put it to work hiring workers and making investments, it would take pressure off the public sector and start to get the economy moving, reducing the risk of a double dip.

Completely unrelated, here's an awesome song I found (http://bit.ly/c3UFM4)

The Roots - Right On (Feat. Joanna Newsome). Found through venture capitalist Fred Wilson's last.fm page fredwilson.fm. Dude has awesome taste.