investment

It’s Pretty Stunning How Many Billion-Dollar Startups There Are Now

"Venture capitalists and investors are continuing to pour money into startups. In fact, there is a vast number of startups that are worth billions, The New York Times' Quentin Hardy reports. 'An unprecedented number of high technology start-ups, easily 25 and possibly exceeding 40, are valued at $1 billion or more,' Hardy writes. 'Many employees are quietly getting rich, or at least building a big cushion against a crash, as they sell shares to outside investors.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt’s Pretty Stunning How Many Billion-Dollar Startups There Are Now

Peter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

"For the past few generations Switzerland has enjoyed some of the strongest economic fundamentals in the world. The country boasts a high savings rate, low taxes, strong exports, low debt-to-GDP, balanced government budgets, and prior to a few years ago one of the most responsible monetary policies in the world. These attributes made the Swiss franc one of the world's 'safe haven' currencies. Despite the fact that Switzerland was an island of economic health amidst a sea of problems, the reigning economic orthodoxy convinced Swiss leaders that their strong currency was a burden rather than a blessing." Continue reading →

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Housing Prices Starting to Melt Up

"Home prices may be starting to melt up. That means that fewer homeowners will have negative equity in their homes and more of them will have less of it. [...] The median existing single-family home price rose 10.9% y/y during December, the best performance since January 2006. This is happening because the supply of existing homes available for sale dropped last month to the lowest since January 2001." Continue reading →

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One Thing Explains Why Home Prices Are Rising In Some Cities And Falling In Others

"One key reason for the discrepancy is the legal process for foreclosing on a home, explains Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Michelle Meyer. 'Broadly, states with a non-judicial process witnessed a sharper decline in home prices at the beginning of the downturn, but are currently enjoying price appreciation,' said Meyer recently. 'This is due to a more efficient disposition of delinquent supply, leaving lean inventory in many markets. In contrast, states with a judicial process are still struggling to clear the pipeline of distressed loans. As a result, home prices in the Chicago and New York metro areas have continued to edge lower.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOne Thing Explains Why Home Prices Are Rising In Some Cities And Falling In Others

The Echo Boom in Housing-Recovery Stocks

"Speculative bubbles often produce an 'echo boom' a few years after the bubble has burst, as the cultural/institutional memories of the asset's spectacular gains remain operative long after the initial boom/bust. Is the much-hyped housing recovery an organic, sustainable trend, or is it merely a speculation-driven echo boom that is doomed to fade?" Continue reading →

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Foreclosure Laws and Procedures By State

"Compare all state foreclosure timelines on this simple one-page chart and click on any state name to read about detailed foreclosure procedures for that state. Before continuing, please note that if you're currently facing or potentially facing foreclosure, you probably have a handful of foreclosure questions. We have a Frequently Asked Questions section that can help." Continue reading →

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Shiller: Housing Market May Have Further to Drop

"'The housing market has been declining for something like six years now, it could go on, that’s my worry,' Shiller said in Davos, Switzerland. 'The short-term indicators are up now, it definitely looks better, but we saw that in 2009.' 'It’s a good housing market in the sense that mortgage rates are very low and prices have come down to normal levels, so yes, it’s a good time to buy if nothing bad happens,' Shiller said. 'But it’s also a very bad housing market in that most of the mortgages are being supported by the government, and we have the Fed and this buying program. It’s a very abnormal market. There’s a lot of uncertainty going forward.'" Continue reading →

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Lenders will target near-equity squatters for future foreclosures

"Banks are letting delinquent borrowers squat rather than foreclosing on them and booting them out. At first, it was a self-preservation measure by the banks taken out of desperation when the first wave of foreclosures caused prices to crash. However, now the banks are content to allow squatting, even for years, because squatters do not become MLS supply weighing down prices. The houses occupied by squatters are effectively removed from the market creating an artificial shortage. The lack of MLS homes for sale and high affordability is causing prices to rise, and as prices go up, banks have collateral backing on their bad loans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLenders will target near-equity squatters for future foreclosures

Fed Officials Recognized Upcoming 2007 Crisis But Weren’t Worried

"Federal Reserve officials in August 2007 saw the beginnings of the crisis in subprime mortgages and concluded that the U.S. economy would be able to withstand it, even as some Fed members warned that it could trigger a downturn, transcripts from their 2007 meetings show. The transcripts show the committee's slow grasp of the enormity of contagion that was to spread throughout global markets as a result of billions of dollars in low-quality housing assets that had been securitized into bonds and sold to banks and investors worldwide. The FOMC focused on the economy's performance and showed reluctance to alter policy until August." Continue reading →

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“Currency Wars” heating up again! What it means for you

"Coordinated, easy monetary policy among the world’s central banks has been a key driver of asset values. That much is undeniable. I have highlighted multiple markets — from junk bonds to farmland to emerging market bonds — where bubblicious activity is rearing its ugly head again as a result, just as it did in previous periods of overly aggressive policy easing. We know this doesn’t end well. The only question is timing." Continue reading →

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