Real estate

Baltimore, Maryland is in many ways the perfect microcosm for these United States of America.

If you still don’t get that, you’ll be in for a rude awakening in the years ahead.

Apple is the Ty Cobb of corporate America. Like Cobb, Apple has set some impressive records. Nine years, a trillion dollars in sales, and almost no taxes paid. Apple risks having a legacy of tainted success and isolation.

The results of the latest FOMC meeting confirm that most of the media and investor communities don't get the joke on Fed policy since the crisis.  No change in '15

There are three financial hurricanes hurtling towards our country and most people are oblivious to the coming catastrophe. The time to prepare is now, not when the hurricane warnings are issued.

Take note, Gold is officially money for the most powerful entities in the world. They are not only accepting Gold as collateral but are openly trying to insure that they have their own Gold in safe custody.

Earlier today the US Census released its latest quarterly data, which confirmed that for what is left of America's middle class, owning a home has become virtually impossible, with the homeownership rate tumbling from 64.0% to 63.7%, which is tied for the lowest historic print since the first quarter of 1986, with the only difference that then the trendline was higher. Now, as can be seen on the chart below, it isn't. At this rate, by the end of the 2015 and certainly by the end of Obama's second term, the US homeownership rate will drop to the lowest in modern US history.

It took a while, but after going nowhere for the past year and in fact declining significantly on a Year over Year basis, the second tech bubble has once again managed to "trickle down" into the San Francisco housing market, which in the month of February saw the west coast tech mecca as the sterling outperformer of all US real estate markets according to the latest Case Shiller data. On the other end: Cleveland was down -1.0%.

Following the default on major Chinese developer Kaisa this week, and with the continued softness in the Chinese property market, many are asking who's next among the highly-leveraged firms. However, as The Real Deal's Konrad Putzier notes, Kaisa’s default carries significance for New York’s real estate industry. Chinese investors spent $3 billion on New York properties in 2014. Many in New York continue to associate Chinese real estate companies with limitless funds and a never-ending ability to invest... But what if they are wrong?

It feels like not a single soul is worried about the increasing amount of negative interest rates around the world. Ignorance or indifference?

Today, China remains central to the notion that the world is in recovery.  It is believed to be growing at 7%: not as rapid as the 9% growth we’re used to seeing, but still dramatically higher than any of large country... Only the whole thing is bogus.

Some economic facts that you did not know...

At HSBC — whose Swiss arm is the international gold standard for money laundering — Mexican drug cartels and terrorists were once welcomed, but porn site operators will apparently have to take their business elsewhere.  

Ask yourself: where do you think this is going? Do you really think your home country will be more free and more prosperous in five years? If not, it’s time to come up with a Plan B...

California is an interesting place.  Probably something like California never existed before.  A barren state with no substantial natural resources, with cities constructed mostly directly over major fault lines, no water, the highest per capita immigrant population of any US state, and of course, also the state with the highest population per capita of lawyers.  "Land of fruits and nuts."  or "La La Land" according to the LA Times:

"...the ladder that has supported the move to record high U.S. corporate profit margins is beginning to snap. It may be a long way down."