Originating Mortgages Has Been Turned Into a Boom / Bust Business

 At one time, making home loans was a pretty stable job.  The 2000 - 2007 housing bubble changed all of that and the root of the problem was government policy and the Federal Reserve.  Mortgage backed securities became a swindle and the AAA ratings they received as investments were bullshit.

Fast forward to the ninny state we exist in and the enabling government ass clowns in charge and you have housing bubble part two.  When this Hindenburg of a housing bubble is laying on the ground in flames and ashes, there will be a great many borrowers and lenders who will say "Who could have known this was all just a bubble??"

"Rising mortgage rates are putting pressure on lenders as applications decline.

Movement Mortgage is the latest to face struggles, laying off around 170 employees, HousingWire reported this week. Employees in the processing, underwriting and closing departments were most affected by the cuts, according to the report."

When the executive class at mortgage lending businesses start laying off the front line staff, the fat lady is singing.

Get Out of the Way and Let It Rain

 

"Ten-year U.S. yields climbed through 2.75% for the first time since March 2019 as investors priced in the impact of the Federal Reserve’s tightening plan and accelerating inflation. Traders are betting on nine quarter-point Fed rate hikes by year-end, which -- including last month’s 25-basis-point increase -- would be the fastest policy tightening pace since 1994. Short-dated rates in the U.K. hit the highest in more than a decade as money markets ramped up bets on Bank of England rate increases by year-end."

"The Fed last week added aggressive quantitative tightening proposals to its plan for a rapid increase in interest rates to cap surging inflation."

Politico Headline Says Voters Are Going to Take Democrats to the Woodshed

"Angry voters slammed by higher prices and scarred by two years of fighting the pandemic are poised to punish Democrats in midterm elections, according to some of the leading experts in consumer sentiment and behavior."

But, remind oneself that this is in fact the political party chosen by OVER 81 million great American voters just a few short months ago.  The majority of the Mensa Member Electorate overwhelmingly voted in this shit show of circus freaks to govern over them (and by default, anyone opposed to the Democrat philosophy).

At the same time, Russia is urging other "BRIC" nations to form its own SWIFT system.  This would take the Dollar and the Federal Reserve to the woodshed for a good ole fashioned (and well deserved) ass whoopin'.

Personally, I hope they are successful.  This country is so full of shit that its eyes are brown and it has severely abused its long standing privilege of having the world's reserve currency since the end of World War II.

It is about time that the rest of the world opened its eyes to the idea that the best way to win the Dollar game is to simply not play it.

Another headline reads that 7 out of 10 Americans believe that Russia is an enemy of the USA.  Good job Fox News, CNN, social media outlets, talk radio on both sides of the aisle and Deep State - the brainwashing is nearly complete.  It probably was not that difficult given that a large number of Great Americans thought that having Kamala Harris one heartbeat away the Presidency was a good idea just a few months ago.  On the whole, we are truly a stupid and arrogant nation.  Most of these idiots could not find Ukraine on a map if their lives depended upon it.  No where do you read any headline stating that NATO encroachment upon Russia's borders is the possible (and very likely) provocation for their invasion.

You Know It's Bad When...

 

....the Fed's Token "Hot Girl" Lael Brainard who has in the past been the mindless blonde Barbie of the Eccles Building that thinks MMT is just swell comes out with the following press release:

"She said that the central bank would move to “rapidly” shrink its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet this year, unraveling the huge bond-buying program launched at the start of the pandemic, while also hiking rates.

Brainard’s commentary “cleared the way” for a super-sized interest rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in May, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

That sparked a strong response across financial markets. After Brainard spoke, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note hit its highest level in nearly three years, soaring to 2.56%. Bond yields move opposite prices, so that indicates a sharp sell-off.

Stocks also fell. The S&P 500 finished down 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.3%. Investment-grade corporate bonds logged their biggest one-day decline since March 2020."

This is the same stupid bitch that in 2016 was a Janet "easy money" Yellen ally who drug her high heels against raising rates off of the floor.  This dumb ass is only now having a come to Jesus moment in the realization that keeping rates at zero and buying up every security at full face value for years has consequences.  Now she is "steppin' and fetchin' like her sweet ass is on fire and her hair is catchin'".  Way to go dumb ass - my guess is that you, crazy eyes Kashkari and token black gay man Bostic have a little more in common than just a penchant for easy money policy.  

Make no mistake, the Fed is only just now realizing that by playing with matches for the past several years, it has stupidly managed to set its own house ablaze.

From James Kunstler's "Clusterfuck Nation"

"What you have here is an interesting chain of circumstance: Ukraine, 2014, the astounding flop of Hillary… RussiaGate… the mystifying Democratic primary race… the Ukraine-based impeachment… the Covid-19 fiasco (including deadly mRNA vaccines) … the election of “Joe Biden”… and now Ukraine again. The American Deep State is in a heap of deep trouble. It’s impossible anymore to hide its turpitudes. Even The New York Times and the WashPo have been forced to confess that Hunter Biden’s laptop is for-real, including the thousands of incriminating memoranda and emails on it, along with all the selfie-porn and drugging. It’s obvious that the “president” of the US is corrupt and compromised. Doesn’t look too good."

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/a-theory-of-the-case/

Now, what you should know about Mr. Kunstler is that, by his own admission, he has in the past been a fairly reliable Democrat - just not your "modern and woke Democrat".  A thinking man's Democrat.  More like your grandpa's brand of Democrat.  You know, a rational and pragmatic person that you might not always agree with but a person who you could actually work out compromises with - a Tip O'Neill type of Democrat.

Today's average "enlightened" Democrat is an illogical, screeching ball of histrionics and virtue signaling.  Overall, the average "Mensa Member Democrat" is truly a gullible lemming of a human being who fully believes in identity politics.  In the wonderful world of full participation democracy, this is the "enlightened voter" that would best serve the country by simply sitting down and shutting up so that the nation will not be cursed with the likes of Joe Biden.

The Grammy's Ain't What They Used To Be

 

Sharona Alperin was hot in 1979 and she remains hot to this day.  I watched as much of the Grammys as I could stomach last night.  I sure miss the late 70's through the late 90's for music.  Since we're going full 1979 today and present times are rhyming with that year - might as well enjoy the silver lining around the cloud.  I will state for the record that I would take Jimmy Carter over Joe Biden any day as Carter was not a crook and a sellout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR2JtsVumFA

The Fed is Out of Touch Because Fed Presidents are Out of Touch

 Perhaps it is time to give Consuela a few weeks off and buy your own fucking groceries and gas.

"An ominous sign about today's high inflation environment, and quite clearly the Federal Reserve is behind the hiking curve, is a contact close with the Fed complaining about out-of-control golf membership prices. 

Yes, you heard that correctly. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker's speech cited "one of our contacts," presumably a Wall Street banker or corporate elite, complained about the "whopping membership fee increases at his golf club."

"The Fed member continued to say "generous fiscal policies, supply chain disruptions, and accommodative monetary policy have pushed inflation" to a four-decade high. 

Notice Harker's listing of inflation's culprits and how "accommodative monetary policy" is last. In our view, that should be first, though the Fed will never admit creating money out of thin air is the root of all inflation." 

The perfect example of what the Fed did is the story of how Jay Gould and Jim Fisk swindled Cornelius Vanderbilt out of millions by printing up new shares of the Erie Railroad Line as he was attempting to take over the lucrative rail line that ran from Chicago to New York.  It was not illegal at the time according to the company's charter but it was highly unethical.  Gould and Fisk got rich and Vanderbilt lost a lot of money.  Watering down the stock - watering down the currency.  No difference.  The Fed is mostly a collection of swindlers and hustlers.