Greater US Home Sales; Fewer US Home Buyers

Market is down today-- good..

Not a four-figure drop but.. its something.. and yet nothing worth writing about.

So we want to take a moment or two and go back to addressing yesterday's post-- all that BS excitement and happiness that home prices have risen the highest in 7 years.

We explained yesterday many reasons why its all a mirage and this has really no impact on everyday people trying to sell their normal homes to buyers..

But we wanted to address one more reason all that glee doesn't matter in a real world, everyday American sense...

While there may be a greater number of homes being sold today than that the worst part of the current recession-depression,  the sellers may be Americans but the buyers of those homes, mainly the higher priced ones, are Foreigners.

We don't mean immigrants..  That wouldn't be a bad thing..

No we mainly mean foreigners for investment purposes.

There are many websites catered to attracting people in foreign countries to buy up US properties to hold onto for a profit later on..  If you're curious to see, we list a couple below..

http://miamiforrussian.com

http://uschinarealestate.com

So if you go on these type of websites.. pick out your luxurious home or spacious condo-- one that half the time you won't even bother to live in and then buy it.

And everyone is happy--

The buyer is able to hide his/her wealth from the tax collectors of their nation since foreign real estate purchase is just another means of off-shore dumping money...

The seller is more than happy-- usually by this stage its the bank selling the property which was foreclosed upon..

The real estate agent is super happy to be getting a nice commission for really doing little to nothing but assist the foreign well-to-do in deceiving his/her own government..

And all those rats, roaches and other pieces of Shit that profit off Wall Street love hearing how the real estate market is now 'fixed'...

Everyone love it except well.. Americans.  But what do they know.. Our economy is so horrible, most really can not afford new homes.

More people are re-financing mortgages than taking out new ones and even that number has been precipitously dropping even with rates gradually increasing..   Funny isn't it.. all interest rates to make purchases are slowly increasing but the base interest rate set by the Fed keeps Decreasing..

Corporate media makes no mention and thus no one minds..

Let's go back a moment to yesterday..   In Case-Schiller's top 20 city index, Miami was listed at #10 in the nation, experiencing a 10.7% increase in home sales..

The following is from the Miami Herald, 11/7/12-- We think the information is still relevant to the points we are conveying (in blue font):

Venezuelans continue to make more international real-estate purchases in Miami than any other foreign group, 16 percent, while Argentineans have leaped to second place with a 15 percent share, and Brazilians rank third at 14 percent, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors...

 Foreign buyers have played a vital role in lifting Miami out of the depths of the real estate downturn, and the agents came to network and to tap into the city’s allure to international investors and vacation-home buyers.

“I have clients there [in Fortaleza, Brazil] who want to buy here,” said Geovania Heller, one of many Brazilian real estate agents who attended the session Monday. “Prices are still better here than in Brazil.”

Real-estate agents from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, among others, joined with a large contingent of Brazilian brokers for the three-day event...

All told, Latin Americans accounted for 70 percent of the international real estate transactions in Miami and Miami Beach. Western Europeans accounted for 18 percent of foreign sales...

Francisco Angulo, an international specialist with Coldwell Banker in Miami Beach, said discretion is important in dealing with Venezuelans in their home country. Forget about taking out a newspaper ad to tout a seminar on buying real estate outside Venezuela: “Nobody will show up,’’ Angulo said. “People want to be low key.’’"

So really this is as good an example as any why the US is becoming a third-world nation.  Others are coming here to gobble up our real estate because our prices are cheaper and home purchasing is a legal means to launder money.

Remember, we mentioned a few months ago there's a loophole in the Patriot Act where real estate agents are not legally bound to inquire where the money comes from on foreign real estate transactions where other entities would be if large amounts of foreign funds were entering the nation.

And understand this-- this post isn't about Xenophobia..

Its actually a severe attack and indictment on the US-- its government and financial apparatus.  This perpetual con game played upon its populace like you would find in non-democratic governments..

No one ever wishes to admit things are bad, much less even a problem exists.. And no one wishes to be honest enough to explain that solutions are ultimately more harmful.

Honestly, who gives a damn in the US housing market is healthy if a vast majority of Americans can't even afford to be players in the real estate game.   They must learn instead to be content to be perpetual renters.

We say this axiom often... 'The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease'

When its corporations or Wall Street, they squeak horrendously loud and have direct access to those in the positions of power and influence to ensure they get all the 'grease' their lice-ridden claws can clasp ...

Average people-- the only hope and its a long shot admittedly is outward open protest and demonstration.. Something akin to the Civil Rights and Women's Liberation movement, the anti Vietnam protests and so on..

This takes time.. patience... work..  Takes talking to friends and neighbors.. creating organizations and merging with others when there's common interest and goals..

There's no guarantee of being heard, but you have a better chance of having grievances addressed when its 100,000 'squeaking' at once vs one or two...

Because 'We the People' are not feared by anyone in power..

And elections just aren't enough anymore.

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Wall St to America: "Who Loves Ya Baby?" (and unrelated bikini girl pics)

The stock market is down -158 pts as of midday, the time of this posting and as we like to often say, very nice but its missing a fourth '1'..

So trivia question: Which of the following three news stories correlates to why the market has dropped?  Hint: There is no 'all of the above' choice--  Investors are selfish beings and only able to care about one specific thing besides themselves at a time..

Is it?:

A)  US households on food stamps have now hit a record high with 23,087,886 who received in January according to the USDA.   Remember this is households, not individuals, so this could represent one person, or two or four or even eight people of all ages living under one roof....

The average monthly benefit to each household dropped to a record low of $274.04

OR..

B) For the fourth month in a row, NAHB's (National Assoc. of Homebuilders) sentiment index missed expectations. With 'real' data on the housing recovery beginning to fade, confidence in the sustainability of the 'recovery'(which never should have been there in the first place) starting to fade.

Today's NAHB print is the lowest in six months and is the fastest 3-month drop since June 2011.

OR..

C)  China's GDP came out less than what was predicted for the first quarter of 2013.

Well.. its certainly Not 'A'..

~ Brooklyn Decker

No one in Government or Wall Street gives two-shits about the suffering of everyday people. In fact the more they suffer the better i.e. more debt load on the micro or individual level means a national economy that doesn't collapse upon itself...

For four plus years, all involved have collectively shrugged as the middle and working classes become more financially decimated, so the fact that more households are on food stamps now than Ever before sure isn't going to elicit more than a yawn.

And its not 'B' either..

~ Lindsay Lohan

The only people who genuinely care about the real estate malaise, are home sellers, Realtors and local politicians in those areas most affected who are seeing property tax revenue streams dry up due to abandoned homes, foreclosures and the like..

Now if you're an Investor who has money tied to stocks that are directly involved in the process of home building/construction, then OK, you care.. but generally speaking.. another 'yawn'...

So the answer is 'C'

From AP:

"China’s GDP grew at a 7.7% annual rate in the first quarter--less than the 8% economists had forecast--and the news sent gold and global markets tumbling. China's Q1 GDP is below the 7.9% growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

The disappointing Chinese GDP report, viewed in the context of slow growth in the U.S., recession in Europe and near zero growth in Japan, is fueling fears that the global recovery is in danger"

We don't know which is funnier-- the fact that the US reported GDP in the 1Q of 2013 as -0.1% and every piece of garbage know-it-all was touting it as 'the Best negative growth you'll ever see' yet treats +7.7% growth in China as doom...  Or..

The fact we trust the figures that come out of China at all.  They cook their books..  Pretty obvious-- its a closed society.  They could report any economic figures they want and who outside of China can go in and double-check.   So 7.7% growth could mean 2.7%... who knows?

AP also says Wall St is worried about a new bird flu epidemic spreading throughout China causing the loss of 60+ lives..

Pathetically funny..

Isn't this the same Wall St that salivated like hungry wolves staring at mutton at all the profit to be made off Japan's tsunami in 2011?

The only lives Wall St cares about is their own..

The institution we as a nation take such pride in and want to grow, genuinely looks down with a collective nose snub upon the masses.   It profits off our misery and for every $1 an everyday investor may make from risky trading, it makes sure its made $3-5

In a perfect world, Investors would pay 50% stock dividend taxes on profits over $250k and 75% dividend tax on any stock profits over $1mil but we don't live in a perfect world unfortunately..  So we only penalize the wealthy who make their money working and creating and hiring..

The wealthy who sit around the house all day twiddling their tallywackers and glancing at their portfolios-- we reward them with low tax rates off their profits...

Because if we didn't have a stock market at 14,700 or whatever inflated number it is today, how else would the commoners living in muck and mire, believe we were actually in a glowing 'recovery'?

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Google honors Cesar Chavez but not Easter on Easter- Why?

Well Easter 2013 has come and gone..

Its not something we overly celebrate but we have respect for those who do, which it seems makes us the exception rather than the rule, especially as far as corporations are concerned.

Take Google..

We really weren't aware of it but it was brought to our attention by someone in our inner circle that for Google's "doodle".. that is to say the little artistic picture that the search site often uses to acknowledge special days..  Easter was once again completely ignored.

Instead, was a doodle honoring labor leader Cesar Chavez, whom two years prior President Obama stated March 31st being a day to honor him.  Thus the excuse was given to ignore the real meaning and significance of yesterday for a billion or so people...

This is what the doodle looked like:

Now we at A&G are not interested in defending nor disparaging Chavez nor even Google..

We know why the decision was made this year and in previous years to completely ignore both any Christian or even secular references (easter eggs, bunny rabbits, etc..) to the holiday...

It comes down to two reasons:

1)  Google does not want to offend China.

They are currently the #2 search engine in China behind a search engine called Baidu, and remember, China's population is 1.321 Billion... That's a little more than a full billion people more than the total population of the US.

Now the People's Republic of China does not recognize Christianity as having much significance in their nation.  Even though there are probably 75-80 million Christian Chinese that only represents 5-6% of the populace at most..

Officially, the government census minimizes them even more so.. In 2000 they stated their national census counted only 4 million Chinese Catholics and 10 million Protestants.

So you see that to put anything pro-Christian on their website is a dangerous proposition for Google in their goal to maintain a foothold in China.

You think our reasoning is unfounded, perhaps??

Not only has Google for many years capitulated to China's demands that many websites be censored to Chinese users based on content leaders feltdeemed worthy of blockage of access, but have at various times assisted China with spying on the Gmail accounts of Chinese citizens.

The only reason Google ever took a stand of any kind against the Chinese government was their servers were hacked by China in 2010 and the symbolism offended Google greater than any fear of profit loss.

Also remember, Google is an international corporation.. they profit in many nations where Christian populations are minimal to non-existent in size.

So why would they want to go out of their way to offend groups easily offended in order to placate a group of people who pretty much tolerate everything?

And this kinda leads to point #2 why Christians are disrespected..

2)  Practicing Christians aren't really that important to Google's business model.

Really that statement can apply to a lot of companies, especially the ones who think they're clever-clever by smushing Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and Kwanza into the pathetic umbrella of 'Happy Holidays'..

~ Notice the safe symbols Google uses to acknowledge Christmas-- a snowflake, Santa, a bell, a snowman, a candle and a gift box..

Its the ultimate disrespect to anyone who has any core faith or religious conviction in any belief system.  Its saying.. "Eh.. whatever it takes to get your $$ without offending others since we want their $$ equally so.."

The business mindset is: Christians can have their 'Santa', Rudolph and Frosty and everything in red/green motif..  For the Jews, we'll have those spinning top toys, um..um.. dridels displayed everywhere.. harmless enough.. OK, they're appeased..

Muslims?  not sure what to do about them but as long as we don't display crosses or Stars of David anywhere, they should stay calm, and those Kwanza celebrators? Well, technically their 'faith' doesn't start till after Christmas so we'll worry about them then...'

Let's be very cut and dry about it...  look through an advertiser's eyes...

Who's more likely to try new things... to leach on to new looks and fads?  To need the latest toys, gadgets and gizmos to show off to their friends, neighbors and co-workers...  To need to shop to fill the inner void...

Is it the person of faith who is content with their belief system and place in this world and who embraces a certain level of orthodoxy of custom and tradition in their religion; a person who has a scheduled yet happy life full of work, family time and church or synagogue or mosque

OR

Someone more secular and open in their belief system; someone more accepting of different points of view and lifestyles as they will ultimately be more accepting of different products and services sold in different wrappers and slogans;  someone needing to show the world they are special and different and unique.. a never-ending quest through consumption...

Both kinds of people are good.. there are no 'baddies' here..

~ Everyone's opening presents & have no reasoning as to why.. Yay!

But Madison Avenue finds the second option much more desirable than the first... Dramatically so.  And thus businesses like Google and even entertainment will craft and cater content to appease and please the secularist because that's where the money is.

Remember, how do advertisers get you to buy toothpaste and cookies and soap?  Temptation..  And what is it that people of faith fight because it goes against religious teaching?  Yes.. Temptation..

See the conflict?

It's really no different than how media and advertisers discriminate with age.  Which group of people are treated by advertisers and Hollywood with the greatest insignificance and irrelevance?

Yes..the elderly... and why?  Because statistics show that once people reach their late 50's, they reached the peak of what they're going to spend.  Instead, this is a time of contraction...

Generally speaking, the kids have left the house so no need for a 4bedroom, 3 bath home...  No need for the extra furnishings, the family SUV.. etc.. If one has a business, they're in the process of selling it to another or just closing up shop.. etc...

But because people by this age are pretty set in their ways and shopping preferences, it takes more than scantily clad bikini girls and cool, hip slogans to get someone 60+ years old to try a new soda or automobile brand..  It takes the one thing businesses don't want to do..

Lowering of the price.

So the elderly are ignored like Christians and Jews and Muslims and Hindus who actually practice their faith and have contentment inside from it..

So Google knows those offended by their lack of acknowledgment over Easter will make a mini-stink but there will be no sincere, effective boycott.. No sincere harm to Google's profit or its stock market share value..

As long as their shareholders are happy with no Easter acknowledgement, then there never will be one in the future

So the only real question left is this... Those who genuinely care and are sincerely upset-- how can you organize and galvanize so that maybe next year Google will do the right thing?

Only you out there can answer that..

You have read this article 2013 / censorship / cesar chavez / China / christianity / church / disrespect / doodle / Easter / elderly / Gmail / google / hacking / Hollywood / islam / judiasm / Madison Avenue / profit with the title China. You can bookmark this page URL https://arhjj.blogspot.com/2013/03/google-honors-cesar-chavez-but-not.html. Thanks!