Weekly News Round-Up
The update on the roller coaster that we know so well as “The Bailout”: After working furiously over the weekend to hammer out a bipartisan bill on bailout, it didn’t pass in the House on Monday, with a majority of Republicans refusing to vote yes, and more than a few Dems siding with them. Some say it was about representatives listening to taxpayers (well, there’s a first time for some), some say that Speaker Pelosi offended the Republicans, but it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that they review and talk about the issue, and make corrections so that it doesn’t happen again. Whether or not they bail anybody out isn’t the most important issue. I’m just glad they’re talking about it. The President is pushing hard to get this resolved, although his lame duck status is definitely a burden and I’m not so sure he’s gonna get his way. Today, lawmakers are wisely building in additional provisions for taxpayers, by increasing deposit insurance and providing tax breaks for the middle class. The big problem today is that this is not a stand-alone bill; it has been attached to a health care bill whose main focus is on requiring businesses to offer health plans if they have over 51 employees and given equal treatment to mental health or addiction in policies. So it’s a crapshoot, with Wall Street practically holding its breath for a miracle.
If you are interested in checking out which of your assets are currently insured by Uncle Sam, there is a government website that can provide you with the answer. EDIE the Estimator “can calculate your FDIC insurance coverage for each FDIC-insured bank where you have deposit accounts. EDIE lets you know in a printable report for each bank whether your deposits are within or exceed coverage limits.” A step-by-step tutorial is included in the site. Make sure you are safe and don’t need to move money around to stay within FDIC limits.
Of course, if you think things are bad in the U.S., how about them Brits? Sky News reports that mortgage lending plunged by 95% in August compared with the month before, according to the Bank of England. And we thought it was tough trying to buy a house here!
European markets are struggling as well. According to yesterday’s Telegraph, three banks were partially or fully taken over by the government: Fortis in Belgium, Bradford and Bingley in Britain, and Glitnir in Iceland. Additionally, the “the French state pledged support for the Franco-Belgian lender Dexia after the share price collapsed on reports of a capital shortage.” Germany’s real estate lender, Hypo Real Estate, was rescued by a bank consortium to keep it up and running, and banks all over the EU were suffering from stock sales and plunging prices. Asia isn’t faring all that much better, just reinforcing that trickle-down theory. When Uncle Sam Hurts, all the hands it feeds hurt as well.
Just had to share the hilarious story posted by Coach A over at San Francisco Schtuff, “The Extremely Curious 958 Carolina Street.” In this post he recounts the ridiculous antics of one listing agent, who over the course of 19 days changes the price of the listing 8 times, sometimes lowering it, sometimes raising it, sometimes more than once a day! I’m wondering about an OCD thing going on, because the same agent also took over 60 pics of the home for the MLS listing. That’s going overboard, all the way around.
Quick shout out to Alexander Clark over at The Front Steps, who is back up and running with a redesigned site. Looking good!
