Underwater Mortgages: HUD Announces Eligibility for up to 125 Percent Loan to Value. Why This is Smoke and Mirrors Financial Theatre.
Only a few days ago HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that mortgages with a 125 percent loan to value would now be eligible for the Home Affordable Refinance Program. I received a few e-mails from readers dismayed about this announcement since it would be troubling for the government to simply buy mortgages that are severely […]
Credit Card Addicted Nation: How Americans have Pushed Themselves off the Fiscal Cliff. $931 Billion in Credit Card Debt Outstanding.
Credit cards were developed as a form of convenience and not another stream of household income. The first major use in the United States started in the 1920s when it was used for the purposes of fueling the expanding auto owner population. Bank of America created the BankAmericard in 1958 which later became the Visa […]
The Country that Punishes Savers: Americans Saving 7 percent of Income Putting nearly $800 Billion Annual Rate on the Sidelines. Banks offering 0 to 0.10 Percent to Borrow Your Money.
Americans are increasingly putting more and more money on the sidelines. For the month of May Americans put away 6.9 percent of their income into savings. Not the stock market or real estate but bona fide savings. This is a stark contrast from the zero rates achieved back in April of 2008. When we discussed […]
$100,000 a Year Will Make you Go Broke with the California Tax System: Why California is a Fiscal Disaster. Broken Tax Structure built on Bubbles.
It is amazing how little attention on a national scale the California debacle is getting. California alone is the 8th largest economy in the world and contributes $1.8 trillion a year to the national GDP. In the mainstream press, all you hear is sound bites of “there goes California” yet the state is teetering on […]