Nouriel Roubini is back to being a party-pooper. In the Financial Times, he writes Mother of all carry trades faces an inevitable bust But while the US and global economy have begun a modest recovery, asset prices have gone through the roof since March in a major and synchronised rally. While asset prices were falling [...]

Commercial real estate is a house a cards about to collapse on multiple fronts for deeply structural reasons. Correspondent Thomas H.submitted this fascinating story: ‘Pop-up’ stores are becoming an overnight sensation. (Los Angeles Times) The basic idea is that retailers are not signing 5-year leases anymore–they’re signing 20-day leases for ‘pop-up’ stores which have the [...]

What is the FHA’s mission? With 14.4% (and growing) of mortgages in default, why aren’t they raising their standards? The bailout is coming and the bill will be enormous. Where is the outrage? John Carney of The Business Insider discusses the issue: http://cdn.livestream.com/events/businessinsider/TBIPlayer.swf

Propaganda It’s obvious to me that there is some serious propaganda being pushed into the minds of consumers today.  There are some interesting contradictions in the headlines.  I also came across some news headlines from the Great Depression.  They sound strikingly familiar to this downturn. Contradictions 1. We are in the country’s worst housing downturn [...]

Max Keiser in rare form… “They are all terrorists.”