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https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-born-job-gains-outpace-losses-among-immigrant-workers
There was a joke about Maxime Raynaud being unable to find a job with a Computer Science degree, so he went to the NBA. Well…
What’s going on with STEM?
Meanwhile, college majors in computer science, chemistry, and physics had much higher unemployment rates of 6% or higher post-graduation. Computer science and computer engineering students had unemployment rates of 6.1% and 7.5%, respectively.
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we complain about asset inflation and home affordability but ignore the risks in asset ownership. Homes aren’t easy to maintain, and the stock market goes down, spectacularly at times.
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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work) -
We complain about asset inflation and home affordability but ignore the risks in asset ownership. Homes aren’t easy to maintain, and the stock market goes down, spectacularly at times.
In 2007, I received a call from a friend of mine who was an SVP at Countrywide, the residential lender. We live four blocks apart in a very nice, upscale neighborhood. He said, “Mick, if you intend to sell your residence at any point during the next three years, do it today. I mean, literally, today.”
I asked why and he said “You know that house on the corner of X and Y, right between our two houses? It is owned by a house painter.” I said “You mean a painting contractor right? A guy with thirty painters?” He said “No…I mean a house painter. And not only does he own that house, he owns a condo in Mt. View and a ranch in Gridley.”
I couldn’t believe it, said so, and he said “Have you heard of liar loans?” I said “sure, low document loans, basically you state your income. Nobody wants them because you need 20% down, a 740 FICO and you pay two hundred basis points over market.” He replied “That’s the way it used to be. What if I were to tell you that you only need 5% down and you could borrow 3% of that? And you need just a 640 FICO and the loan was at market rate?”
I was shocked. “But that would be a disas–” and he let it sink in. I had seven figures of equity in my house. Lost all of it in the ensuing two years. After my convo with my friend, I begged Mrs. Mick to sell, she wouldn’t hear of it. Made it back, but still…
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Yuck.
amazing that you had a friend good enough to warn you.
I bet that made conversations with the wife touchy for a while.
that said, you could tell me my house is going to be worth half what it is in two weeks and I’m not selling. So, I can relate to your wife I guess.
I think we might be in for a very rough patch for a while, but what else am I going to do? I’m still in accumulation mode but even if we’re in asset preservation mode I don’t know where I would put any money. Bonds are a loser, stocks are overvalued, cash is a loser, real estate is overvalued and hard to cash flow, so I just keep a balance of all of them and hope for the best.
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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work) -
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