A brutal piece in Comstock Funds is highlighted in Marketbeat today. The Comstock boys ask "Is the Housing Hard Landing Already Here?" (Their answer is a resounding yes).
Here is Housing by the numbers:
• 32.6%
of new mortgages and home equity loans in 2005 were interest only, up from 0.6%
in 2000• 43% of first-time
home buyers in 2005 put no money down.• 15.2% of 2005 home
buyers owe at least 10% more than their home is worth.• 10% of all home
owners have no equity in their homes• $2.7 trillion in loans will adjust to higher rates in 2006 and 2007.
• 70% of borrowers who took out pay-option ARMS in the past year have loan
balances larger than their initial loan.• Homeowners face higher payments as mortgages are reset. Generally,
monthly payments rise between $200 and $500 depending on the size of the
mortgage.• According to Reality Trac, August foreclosures were up 23% over July and 53%
over a year ago.• The number of homes for sale is at record highs, and inventories are 59%
higher than a year earlier.• New home sales are down 22% and existing home sales down 11%.
• The NASB housing market index has recorded an all-time decline.
• The housing affordability index is at a 15-year low.
• The house price-to-income (rents) ratio is off the charts. According to HSBC,
in 18 states accounting for over 40% of national home values, the
price-to-income ratio is 3.6 standard deviations above the mean.• The OFHEO index of house prices deflated by the consumption price deflator
has soared to a record high of 350 from 250 in 2001. From 1976 to 1996 it
never was above 220.• According to the NAR the year-to year prices of existing homes are now
flat. A short time ago they were rising at a yearly rate of 16%.• Nationally, home prices have not declined on a year-to-year basis since
1933. Recently, however, prices have been dropping in the North East,
West and Mid-West.•
Sales incentives are now estimated at 3% to 7% of selling prices.
Wow — that is some soft landing you got there . . .
Source:
The Hard Landing For Housing is Already
Here
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Comstock
http://tinyurl.com/f56sh
When you east-coasters say Mid-West… do they mean Ohio or the REAL midwest… (the states west of the mississippi and east of the rockies)?
I live in what I consider the real midwest and between St. Louis and Denver, there aren’t many markets that had any sort of housing inflation (relative to real inflation). Though many new homes are now coming with discounts, often times the discounts are still putting it pricier than the cost of the house one year ago. Looking at housing prices in Memphis, STL, Omaha, Kansas City, OKC, etc…. housing prices are stable or slightly up… and almost identical to inflation for their relative areas.
I forgot…
I agree… bubble — burst — big. However, being that the bubble itself was a set of regional bubbles, I don’t see places like Houston, where houses are super-cheap relative to the rest of the country, dropping in value. However, being that some major metropolitan areas has huge housing bubbles… certain the overall trend will be down.
From my latest visit to India, I can tell you that the housing bubble is truly a global phenomenon.
I was struck by how many new condos were “dark” at night – i.e. not occupied by its owners. In India with its huge population density and chronic acute housing shortage, this would be unthinkable a few years ago.
On the flight back I was told the following get-rich-quick scheme by the guy in the next seat:
1. In a new housing construction, book three condos before the construction even starts.
2. 6 months later as the construction nears completion, two of those condos have appreciated enough to pay off the third condo.
3. Sell off two condos, and the third one is free.
Rinse, Repeat.
Also – if you think the cost of ownership to rent ratio is too high in the US, the numbers in India will boggle your mind. Houses that rent for Rs. 10000 would cost at least Rs. 50000 in mortgage payments monthly. This inspite of the fact that Indian real estate investors consider renting condos out as risky due to fear of damage and poor law enforcement for eviction etc.
To complete the global picture, consider this – in one of the condo buildings I surveyed in Pune (near Bombay), the builder told me that 50% of the condos were sold to US investors who used, wait for it, HELOCs in their US properties to buy property in India.
Drawing comparison to the 1980’s Savings and Loan bankruptcy problems and later recession/bear market, it seems this housing bubble pop will eventually carry over into bad loans/residential bankruptcies. When the economy/Federal Reserve/Congress has to adjust to the housing bubble bad debt, it seems then will the bear market will be in full force. The problem is in the timing when this will occur.
When I was about 12, somebody gave me a water rocket for my birthday.
It was one of the kind that had a hand pump that you attached to its base…. directions said to put maybe a tablespoon full of this powder that came with it (I know now it was baking soda) and a small dash of another packet (citrate) into the rocket, then fill it with water, mix, and pump the hand pump 6-9 times.
Well…. I put maybe 3 tablespoons of the baking soda along with probably half the packet of citrate in (plus I squeezed some orange pulp into it as well), and then I pumped it maybe 30 times. It was humanly impossible for my 12-year-old self to make the 31st stroke.
You’d just have to know me to understand.
My younger brother, who was smarter than I, had already figured out that something big was gonna happen, and he disappeared from the scene, to watch me from a safe distance as I attempted to trigger the device.
It wouldn’t trigger. The pressure was so great that I couldn’t make the thing trip the switch. I pushed and pushed and pushed again… nothing.
It’s a lot like waiting for the housing market to impact the economy… maybe it will and maybe it won’t. We aren’t capable of knowing that yet.
Finally… I was able to trip the switch and I got a mouth and eye full of mixture… and I never found the rocket… ever… and I looked for hours around my house.
“It’s a lot like waiting for the housing market to impact the economy… maybe it will and maybe it won’t. We aren’t capable of knowing that yet.”
I guess some people just have to see it to believe it.
I can confirm what digger says.
I bought a 1200 plot for 400,000 Rs in 1997. My brother tells me that it would go for 3,000,000 Rs today.
THis is in bangalore- the silicon valley of india.
People seem to be flipping homes, condos everywhere. A cousin in b’lore bought 1200 sqft condo for 22,00000 Rs. He would not live there since he lives with his mother and brother. But rent for this condo would not cover his mortgage. But he must have paid lot of cash upfront and hence it does not matter. he is in software industry and gets paid gobs of money, i guess.
Chad K, all other thins equal, sure, Houston might not have a problem. But ask yourself this – when you have bubbles in a few handfuls of markets that constitute probably 60% of the US housing market capitalization, and those markets simultaneously pull back what could easily be 25% (if not 50%, if things really go the way they seem to be going), what is going to happen to the rest of the economy, seeing that it is 70% consumer spending, housing construction is already in recession, govt spending is already totally out of control, the US dollar needs high rates to avoid a collapse, especially if imports slow, and monetary policy is still barely above neutral. Take a look at the freddie mac cash out refi numbers, and the HELOC numbers, where they are now, vs where they are in a realistic housing market. Imagine some small share of that being spent. THen think that the freddie numbers woefully understate the issue, because they are on conventional loans. Look how meager job growth is already, and think about where business investment and employment gains are likely to head when the consumer side slows.
Put it all together, and then ask yourself, why would Houston, or any other place, escape unscathed, when the whole economy slows?
If you can find a plausible way that you can have a bunch of regional housing market bubbles burst, and still see consumer spending go on as if nothing happened, despite the reality of the next two years of mortgage resets, where so many of those homeowners will have loans that are under water, please, be my guest. Id love to hear how this happens. Does the saving rate go to -10%? Do people cash out even more of their 401ks, than the scary high percent that are already doing so? Does the stock market rise when CFOs are cuting back capital investment and domestic demand is flagging?
If it’s already here, then we have nothing to fear. But, I don’t think that’s what he means.
Now back to watching taped testimony by the NAHB, NAR & FDIC to the Senate Banking sub-Committee on C-SPAN
These are great comments that prove that we are nearing a singularity that’s going to suck in everything. Hang on! Nobody can escape this one.
I guess it depends on the definition of “hard landing.” If that means a recession, or some people defaulting, or home prices dropping slightly, then yes, we are probably having a hard landing.
If “hard landing” means a return to Hoovervilles and depression conditions (which is not far from what I’ve heard some fund managers say), then I think this is a soft landing.
follow the lenders (lending): It’s not a problem with A.R.M.s in general, because they are great vehicles for financing real estate, especially 1-4 unit properties.
It’s the world of Option-ARMs in particular and the way they sold and then underwritten.
According to the FDIC. they have no way of knowing how many 100% borrowers are out there and I believe them. It’s because two loans were created to get to 100% (an 80% first and a 20% second, usually in the form of a HELOC)
Sub-Prime lenders and borrowers are facing some bad “Options”, but not all.
In the Chicago area, there are already ads aimed at those who should be switching from ARM’s to fixed rate. Since the 10-year has behaved well, these rates are still in the 6 to 6.25 range, but that might still price out buyers who are in on a shoestring.
oldprof : IF A BORROWER IS FACING A “RESET” AND IS ON A SHOESTRING, MAYBE THEY SHOULD GET ANOTHER 5 YEAR OPTION-ARM?
And don’t forget: all those mind-bending housing stats were driven with ZERO REAL INCOME GROWTH.
Vega: we haven’t had “REAL INCOME GROWTH” in 35 years……
Danielle,
I tend to believe the housing market will impact the economy, and I will believe it when I see it. But, until it does, it’s only a theory.
Here’s the story: It’s Mauldin to Minter to Ritholtz to Fleckenstein…. it’s like you’re wanting to get into a club and the secret handshake also requires you to recite an excerpt from the ritualistic tome on housing.
M-M-R-F: “Now, when did you say NASB recorded an all time high, hmmmm?”
Potential clubmember (PC): “I… I… but… I can’t r-em-e-m-be–rrrr!”
M-M-R-F: “You call yourself a member of this club, do you?”
PC: “Well, yeah… I thought I did, but I’m not so sure.. not now….”
M-M-R-F: “Shaddup!… Look, let’s try again… see if you can get this one!”
PC: “oKaa-a-Y….”
M-M-R-F: “Alright, listen up!… If you were onE of tHe 32.6% that bought a house from one of the 43% that couldn’t make their payments and, well, and then if you took 15.2% of $2.7 trillion… but then you got foreclosed on… err… uh, yeah!… that’s right, you Got fOreclosed on, then would you… uh… would you be able to convert to a fixed?”
PC: “Stop it!…. stop it… I cAn’T taKE it any morE!…. I don’t knowwwwww!…. Oh, I don’t want to join any-morrreee!” (exiting)
M-M-R-F: “Weak-minded unbeliever!”
Housing Bubble blogs are two and three years old! LMAO!
example: http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html#hitlog
• 70% of borrowers who took out pay-option ARMS in the past year have loan balances larger than their initial loan.
LOL! They also have a bit of equity as well.
Real estate market: YOU NEED ME ON THAT WALL. YOU WANT ME ON THAT WALL.
Some of you guys oughta not post after you’ve started drinkin…
“Some of you guys oughta not post after you’ve started drinkin…
Posted by: Bob A | Sep 15, 2006 9:52:01 PM”
YEAH, ESPECIALLY THOSE RENTERS “PREDICTING” A BUBBLE FOR THE PAST 4 YEARS!
Larry
does anyone ever read your blog ?????
I have no idea, BC
BC: my blog is not a “sky is falling” blog. Sky is falling is what is hot right now. Have at it!
Larry: The timing of a bubble cracking is unpredictable.
Remember the Internet bubble? There were people calling for that to crack for years. Near the end, even normally sane people like Soros and Robertson jumped in, just before the whole thing gave way.
mh497: People have been “jumping” out for over a year now. So, please tell me what you mean. ty
And, all I have said for a long time is that I have traced back Housing Bubble warnings to March of 2000 (WSJ)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/money/one-last-hurrah-for-property-says-forecaster/2006/01/23/1137864853684.html/
http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/13270/1/1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8322080/
http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/555455-1.html
http://www.ny.frb.org/research/epr/04v10n3/0412mcca.html
http://money.cnn.com/2003/08/19/news/economy/housing_outlook/
http://news.goldseek.com/DailyReckoning/1062520397.php
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_32/c3795028.htm
http://www.economicsuk.com/blog/000018.html
http://www.realestatejournal.com/columnists/qa/20020607-irwin.html
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20010730-barta.html
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20010205-nieland.html
(the last three articles go back to 2002, 2001)
Housing… housing… housing.
When have people ever been so obsessed with a market phenomenon that is so prosaic, and that so few people really want to talk about?
I started talking about housing today with a few friends of mine. I uttered the phrase “housing bust” and it almost turned into a fist fight.
What’s going on here?
I lived at ground zero during the whole dot.com thing, and I never saw anybody turn red with rage at the mention of the word “bubble”.
Honestly, for the first time in my life I sense real fear when talking to friends and relatives of mine. I can’t reslove these two completely foreign concepts – terror and houses.
I can’t parse it.
Something is wrong.
ac: Because the word “bubble” wasn’t heard too much so much in 2000, as you said, people just have to be right this time! That may explain, in part, wht they haven’t been yet.
You are right about one thing: People are so emotional and obsessed with the housing bubble…….as if that was the only sector in the entire real estate market.
But, think back to everything you have heard or read about the bubble: YOU WILL NEVER SEE A “THEREFORE” AT THE END OF AN ARTICLE OR POST.
“I can’t reslove these two completely foreign concepts – terror and houses.”
ONE HAS A KNOWN ADDRESS AND THE OTHER DOES NOT. WORK BACKWARDS TO FIGURE IT OUT……
Day 1761 of the bubble watch has ended.
Nusbaum, you can cry over theatrics of the property boom, but remember, this is global on scale. Just a nice sneeze by the US could create a global property bust. Fiat will be tested whether it can continue to re-inflate or whether it to, can deflate like a balloon sending a severe recession throughout the land.
Beware………………………………………………………..
I tend to believe we have a massive debt bubble but if it is near popping then why is the stock market rising back to the most recent highs?
Why are homebuilding stocks bouncing off their lows and Apartment reits are at all time highs?
I think in order for the housing market to crack we need a real recession with loss of jobs and the stock market doesn’t seem to be forecasting this.
I don’t think the stock market has had even a 10% correction since March 03, I have to say it doesn’t look like the econnomy is in trouble right now despite all the debt and overleveraging in the housing market
Why do the commercials have a low net short position in the S&P 500 futures if the economy is about to fall apart?
Comstock Partners have had the strength of their bearish convictions and the performance of their two funds over many years reflects this.
That performance may be viewed on the Gabelli Funds website.
It is possible that there are worse performing equity or blended funds track records over the last 16 years – but, if they exist, they will join a very small group indeed.
~~~
BR
That is a fair attack on their performance — but it says absolutely nothing about the facts and data listed above.
The housing bubble that wasn’t. Did it ever occur to anyone that housing was incredibly undervalued in 2000, same as commodities?
76% of homeowners with a mortgage have a fixed rate. They happily make the same payment year-in and year-out. They are the silent, conservative majority.
In 2000, few called the internet bubble. In 2006, it would seem that few dispute the existance of a housing bubble. Conventional wisdom is rarely correct.
digger…same thing that’s happening in india is happening in china. people with american salaries are investing in real estate. my landlord owns 12 properties. something tells me they are not cashflow positive. the building is modern, but the construction quality is low. every week something breaks. there are some families that live here, but it’s generally pretty dark at night. our floor 4 apts and only one is occuppied. plus the occupant uses the apt as an office.
adam, you must have a conventional degree in conventional survey taking (just kidding).
seriously, if you look at some sentiment surveys from shiller’s research ( http://icf.som.yale.edu/confidence.index/ ), in 2000, a larger percentage of individuals than you might think were not convinced that stock prices were going to rise.
i submit that a very large number of homeowners believe housing prices have a very low probability of being 20% lower in 4 years.
i think your application of the conventional wisdom rule is a little unsophisticated here.
Call it a Housing bubble or not… Get red in the face or stay calm.
In the end all that matters are homebuilder’s profit margins. Which happen to be 25% at current prices. 25 Percent! This would make any capitalist with balls keep building.
and building and building and building… and lower prices will be forced in from the outskirts. The price differentials in the rural areas become more luring to cityfolk (after all, wages are still 80% of city salaries where the cost of living is much lower) This is Shiller’s basic theory and it makes sense to me.
Gary maybe you should get into the homebuilding business and help speed the process.
Cherry: Beware if what? What should one do right this minute? *bet she can’t answer that*
adam makes a great point: The flip side of all these so called “negative numbers” is strength by te masses:
1. we have never had more home equity as a percentage of home value.
2. We have never had so much wealth created spread out amongst so many people.
3. The stock market did crack (once again) in 2000-2003 taking away 7 trillion $ in wealth. Housing never has cracked.
4. Homeownership is at an all-time high, which explains why crimes rates have gone down all over the country.
5. “Exotic” mortgages may be high demand today, but they have been around since 1930.
6. The altenative to owning is renting. If you do that you make an “investor” more secure. TY
Everything that is happening today with sales, inventories, prices, incentives, credit and media coverage is normal and expected by me. It matters not to a seasoned professional such as me. Why? Because, I know and want you to know that it is very easy to make a bad purchase in a great market and a great purchase in a bad market. And, when we look a long-term chart (back to 1930) of the housing’s price movement it reveals a pattern that looks like a stair-step pattern that repeats about every 7 years: up for 4-5 years and then flat for 2. This is the normal 7 year cycle for real estate. This cycle ended in about December of 2005 and has been quite flat in 2006, despite what the dire predictions have been saying for 3-4 years. However, when other (tops) bubbles occur, the Tech (internet) stock bubble in particular, there weren’t a lot of dire warnings in advance like we have seen in housing. All of Wall St. missed the greatest bear market in history and they were embarrassed! Is it possible that analysts and investors want to get it so right that they have been preparing and calling for it and didn’t all rush in at once at the end? I don’t know. I don’t care.
Look at the incredible rise in Housing values since about 1997. Of course, it was back in May of that year when Clinton’s tax laws favoring the treatment of capital gains on one’s primary residence took hold. Three years later the stock market bubble of 2000-2002 took another 7 trillion dollars of value out of an economy that had dipped into a short recession; all the while real estate values continued their historic climb. As I have said, the housing cycle peaked in late 2005 (many say July 2005) and now you are faced with four choices: Sell, don’t buy (more), buy, or rent and make your landlord a bundle of cash.
My landlord isn’t making a bundle of cash. He is barely covering overhead on this place which he bought a year ago. If you wanna see what the beginnings of a real estate bust look like come over to Arizona.
I started talking about housing today with a few friends of mine. I uttered the phrase “housing bust” and it almost turned into a fist fight.
What’s going on here?
It is because the boomers are scared and they are running out of time. They spent the first half of their lives wasting their income and playing. They were depending on the stock boom in the 90’s to bail them out and they got suckered. Now they are depending on the housing boom to bail them out and they are seeing that fail too. They know they can’t depend on the government they voted for to bail them out because government has spent just as foolishly as they did.
They aren’t stupid. They see a lifetime of waste and selfishness(a selfishness that doesn’t even pay forward to the little old men and women that they will become). That waste is rising up and is about to bite down on them.
For the first time in their lives people are going to say no to the boomers and they will have to say no to themslves and this is scaring the stuffing out of them.
Fear often is manifest in the form of anger(it’s a defense mechanism) and this is why people are fighting about their economic dreams turning to mush
Larry Nusbaum is either 1) a real estate developer 2) heavily invested in real estate 3) a real estate broker.
Everyone can judge for themselves if Larry Nussbaum is selling Real Estate snake oil or not at his Millionaire Now site: http://millionairenowbook.blogspot.com/
Larry, it actually looks like you have some good common sense stuff on your site. I don’t think it’s snake oil at all. I would be careful about insisting real estate is a good buy right now, though.
BR,
Your comments are correct.
However the Comstock 16 year track record of putting consistently bearish general views into specific equities actions is quite unique.
I cannot think of another example amongst publicly listed funds, that so aptly summarises the severe financial penalties that would have been visited on those who continuously reacted bearishly to the usually quite true financial and economic disaster stories of the last 16 years.
As such, it is a unique and invaluable treasure – an ongoing example of the enormous difficulty of translating each year’s general financial vicissitudes into bearish equities actions that will enhance a persons financial future rather than detract from it.
As to the facts cited – you are correct and I have no doubt they are true. Indeed a similar collection of facts was also true for the housing markets of the UK and Australia. These countries began and ended their housing excesses well ahead of the US and those excesses were somewhat larger, proportionately, to the US experience.
However the financial outomes to those who were able to find good companies to buy as those two housing markets unravelled over the last three years have been a far more enjoyable experience than for those who have taken a generally bearish view of UK and Australian equities over that time.
Lastly, you must forgive a grumpy old man from trying to quietly encourage your younger posters to try and find one or two good companies of fair value to buy when these very real financial disasters come to us each year.
Larry,
I’ll take a stab at a couple of your points.
4. Homeownership is at an all-time high, which explains why crimes rates have gone down all over the country.
– Something tells me it’s not as simple as “A” causes “B”, especially when “B” is something as complex as crime.
-Homeownership is at an all-time high, indeed. Will it revert to trend or keep growing to the sky?
5. “Exotic” mortgages may be high demand today, but they have been around since 1930.
– Yes, they existed but to what degree? Exhibit A: Interest only loans grew from 0.6% in 2000 to 32.6% in 2005. Seems to me a fair-minded analysis would not dismiss this fact.
6. The alternative to owning is renting. If you do that you make an “investor” more secure.
– I sold in 2005 and have been renting ever since at about 40% of the cost of owning. I feel pretty secure. Watching the house across the street drop its price $341,000 (14%) and still no takers only helps my sense of security.
– If I were to buy a house today for investment, there’s no way the rental income would cover PITI, and I don’t see future price appreciation coming to my rescue. Nothing would make me feel more insecure than buying residential investment property today. Maybe I’m a quirky exception.
Hey Larry,
I just heard an NPR report (with L.A. police chief Bratton among others) talking about how violent crime has risen dramatically in the last 2 years nationwide…..The guests sounded quite concerned about–Pointed to “Homeland” security priorities sucking up a lot of $ from traditional police work…..
I apologize if this is feeding the troll, but after reading the 20th post from Larry Nusbaum, seasoned professional and author of “Millionaire Now!” (his exclamation point, not mine), I couldn’t help seeing Larry as Greg Kinnear’s character in “Little Miss Sunshine”.
If you haven’t seen the movie, this means nothing, but see if you can spot which lines are from Richard Hoover and which are from Larry Nusbaum:
– We have never had so much wealth created spread out amongst so many people.
– Step 7: Make a friend of your fears. Turn your fears into your strongest ally.
– Because, I know and want you to know that it is very easy to make a bad purchase in a great market and a great purchase in a bad market.
– Everything that is happening today with sales, inventories, prices, incentives, credit and media coverage is normal and expected by me. It matters not to a seasoned professional such as me.
– Don’t apologize, Olive. Apologies are for losers.
Barry,
What do you make of the following (from Between the Hedges):
” The Case-Shiller housing futures are still projecting a 5% decline in the average home price over the next 9 months. Considering the average house has appreciated over 50% during the last few years, this would be considered a “soft landing.” The overall negative effects of housing on the US economy are currently being exaggerated, in my opinion. Housing has been slowing substantially for 13 months and has been mostly offset by other very positive aspects of the economy.”
Larry lives in la-la land for real estate, Arizona. I’m from AZ and know a few people who in the past couple years have given up their normal jobs (one was an insurance salesmen, the other an engineer) to become “real estate developers”. It’s just slightly concerning that both of them, with little finance knowledge and even less real estate experience, were able to get funding in the 7 figures for their “projects”.
To all: I love your posts and enthusiasim. I have no idea if housing is in a bubble, even though many have been very sure for years now. Nor do I care. Nor is it my business. I only broker commercial and it’s just different.
You are great bloggers and writers. Hektor: I am having some fun and NO NEED TO ATTACK ME PERSONALLY.
Since you don’t like my opinions, you have asked me to stop posting here, right? *what a guy*
Larry, it actually looks like you have some good common sense stuff on your site. I don’t think it’s snake oil at all. I would be careful about insisting real estate is a good buy right now, though.
Posted by: Skoobz | Sep 16, 2006 3:18:09 PM
Which I have not done. As I have said, there are times to buy and times to step back. This is not a time to be buying. I have never found a period to sell, however.
Hektor: calling someone a troll is personal.
Copying & pasting my words and telling me not to post here is foolish. Posting the same post on my blog 3 times is….strange. ‘Nuff said.
Larry,
Sorry. My bad.
Make you a deal. If you promise to keep below 20 posts per thread, I won’t call you a troll.
Oh, and Larry, sorry about posting on your blog 3 times. It kept disappearing, so I thought it was a glitch. I now understand that you like to keep you blog free of those messy comments.
I don’t mind being called a “troll” or anything else. Just don’t deny, as you did on my blog, that it isn’t personal.
Here’s the deal: I continue to post and you continue to be confused.
KID: Stay down!
Posted by Hektor | 7:41 PM
No, Hektor: Your original post remains. I deleted the two duplicates after that.
*this guy is starting a Larry obsession, no doubt*
Hektor: Meet me at the pre-arranged place. Remember to bring cash. Small bills. Make sure that you aren’t followed and come alone and unarmed. No cops either. If you do exactly as you are told, I will release your brain to you unharmed. Remember, if you ever want to see your brain alive again, no tricks. Got it?
you should do stand-up Larry
“you should do stand-up Larry
Posted by: JJ | Sep 18, 2006 8:28:33 AM”
I had great training: I grew up a Red Sox fan! lol
Larry,
This is Barry’s blog. Enough is enough.
Watching housing slide
The Census Bureau
yesterday released August data for housing permits and new housing starts, both of which confirm that we are in the midst of a significant housing downturn.