Economy

“This Is A Ridiculous Joke” – An Abandoned, Rotting Vancouver House Is Listed For $7.2 Million – Zero Hedge

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Source: “This Is A Ridiculous Joke” – An Abandoned, Rotting Vancouver House Is Listed For $7.2 Million | Zero Hedge

Welcome to peak insanity.

You might ask what does this have to do with underwriting?  Great question.  Here’s your answer:

Back during the savings and loan crisis in the US (yes, I’m old) I remember seeing lots of lender initiated life insurance applications to cover mortgage debt.  The applications were made years after the loans were on the books.  One app sticks in my mind.  Like any good underwriter I asked for and received a financial statement.  The valuation of the real estate seemed high to me.  I told the underwriter to decline the case based on inadequate finances.  I was questioned on my decision.

One of the properties (there were multiple properties listed on the balance sheet) was in the same city the underwriter lived in.  I said go drive by the house and you tell me if you think it’s worth $800,000 based upon appearance and location.  The next day he walked into my office.

“It’s an empty lot.”

Hey, at least there are buildings on this $7.2 million property in Vancouver!

 

326,000 Native-Born Americans Lost Their Job In November: Why This Remains The Most Important Jobs Chart | Zero Hedge

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According to the BLS’ Household Survey, while 375,000 foreign-born workers found jobs in November, a whopping 326,000 native-born Americans lost theirs.

Source: 326,000 Native-Born Americans Lost Their Job In November: Why This Remains The Most Important Jobs Chart | Zero Hedge

Interesting statistics.  Just sayin’, you know?

Chilling Thing Hershey Just Said About American Consumers – Wolf Street

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Hershey has put its corporate finger on an increasingly bedeviled American economic reality where businesses are confronted with this “bifurcation”: Selling to those few who benefited from the Fed’s monetary policies and the asset bubbles these policies have engendered; and trying to sell to the middle class whose stagnant incomes are being eaten up by the soaring costs of housing (result of Housing Bubble 2), healthcare, college, cars, and a million other things. These people have gone into debt to keep their head above water and thus have become the over-indebted modern-day proletariat that lives from paycheck to paycheck, without savings or emergency funds, struggling to make ends meet, and they simply have trouble spending money they don’t have. And businesses are now catching the drift: it’s going to be tough out there in this Fed-engineered economy.

Source: Chilling Thing Hershey Just Said About American Consumers | Wolf Street

The current state of our world economy explained in simple terms a child could understand:  Chocolate sales.

Stroke Rounds: Long Work Hours, Stroke and CHD Risk Associated | Medpage Today

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via Stroke Rounds: Long Work Hours, Stroke and CHD Risk Associated | Medpage Today.

“Working 55 hours or more a week was associated with significant 33% increase in stroke risk and a more modest 13% increase in risk of developing coronary heart disease, compared to working 35 to 40 hours weekly, in the analysis of published and previously unpublished prospective cohort studies from the U.S., Europe, and Australia.”

One could argue for causation given the strength of association identified by this study.  Common sense tells us that anyone working more than 60 hours a week is going to have considerably less time for other activities like exercise and time with family and friends.  Long hours working also can lead to neglect of one’s health.

Why Millennials Will Never Grow Up – MarketWatch

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“Fully 56% of millennials (compared with 43% of adults overall) with current or past student loans have delayed at least one major life event because of student loan debt, according to a survey of 1,000 adults released Wednesday by Bankrate.com. And a survey of 1,000 current and former students released last year by Citizens Bank came to similar conclusions: Roughly 90% of people ages 18 to 40 (most of this age group is made up of millennials) with student loans say that paying these loans has impacted their day-to-day life, including the achievement of some major life milestones.”

via This is why millennials will never grow up – MarketWatch.

Hint:  student loan debt.