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August 29, 2008
Let’s Get Real about Real Estate
By. Peter Schiff / August 29th, 2008
Once again, real estate market watchers have pounced on a shred of seemingly positive news to proclaim that the long sought “bottom” is in sight. The routine is becoming extremely stale, but somehow the media never seems to tire of it. This time the “good” news was that the percentage declines in national home prices (according to Case Shiller) in July where not as large as they were in June. Although the report contained many other negative data points, including increased inventories and a spike in foreclosure sales, it was the slowing declines that got spotlight. Talk about grasping at straws. The truth is that real estate has been grossly overvalued for years, and the adjustment process back to realistic pricing has only just begun. The problem is few among us seem to appreciate the magnitude of this adjustment and its implication for an economy dependent on inflated assets values.
By most accounts, the decade long housing boom began in 1996 and finally went poof in mid-2006. In January 1996, the Case Shiller 10 city composite home price index stood at 76. By June 2006 it had tripled to 226, by far the largest increase in U.S. history. Since then, the index has pulled back by 20% to 180. For those who believed that home prices could never retreat nationally, this 20% correction is more than enough. In reality, it’s just the down payment.
“Stewart & Colbert they know what REAL News is” Ralph Nader
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August 28, 2008 MSNBC
ABC Producer Arrested Outside DNC Convention 2008
August 28, 2008
[@ .32 look at the cop grab the guys neck like he wants to choke him]
Obama ‘will bring no change to US foreign policy’ – 28 Aug 08
The great debate on how much – or how little – Barack Obama would change US foreign policy especially with regard to the Middle East, still continues.
Ghada Karmi, a research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter University in the UK, told Al Jazeera, that despite Obama’s platform for “change” – there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans foreign policy vision.
Words above and video below posted by AlJazeeraEnglish
Riz Khan- Private arms private wars- 20 Aug 08
The US military has used private contractors since the days of the revolutionary war but the scale of their use in Iraq is unprecedented. Riz hosts Navy veteran David Isenberg along with award winning journalist Jeremy Scahill to discuss the role played by private armies in Iraq.
Words above and video below posted by AlJazeeraEnglish
Part 1
Riz Khan – US War Veterans – 27 Aug 08
The Riz Khan show talks with two US Iraq war veterans about who has the right plan for the way forward.
Vets for Freedom’s David Bellavia and Vets for Peace’s Frank Bessinger sit down and debate their opposing points of view on the way out of Iraq.
Words above and video below posted by AlJazeeraEnglish
Part 1
Investors Chase Phantoms
By. Peter Schiff – August 22, 2008
In football, when a running back intends to cut to the left, he often first fakes right. This move is designed to make the defense commit their resources in the wrong direction. It is my experience that markets often follow a similar path. Just prior to a major move in one direction, markets often make a sharp move in the opposite direction first. With respect to the dollar, gold, oil and other commodities, many on Wall Street have bought into the head fake, and will soon be watching in amazement as the runner sprints to the end zone.
Over the last few months, as the dollar rose more than 10% against a basket of other currencies, and as gold and oil sank to multi-month lows, many investors concluded that a threshold had been crossed, and that the bearish trend for the dollar and the bullish trends for commodities had finally come to an end. But rather than representing a sea change, these counter trend moves more likely signify that the established trends are about to kick it into a whole new gear. My take is that if you thought you had seen a bear market in the dollar and bull market in gold, oil, and other commodities, well, “you ain’t seen nothing yet”.
