What is Happening in the World Economic Arena?
by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
Hemet CA REAL ESTATE
Recently I had been involved in a debate here on ActiveRain about a REALTORS® role in the financing process when a buyer wants to buy a Hemet home for sale.
Because I have taken the position that lending is not my job and because I do not get paid for it, that it is in my best interest and the best interest of my real estate clients that I do not try and be a jack-of-all-tradesand pretend to have expertise where I do not have any. (By the way, the individual I am referring to continues to argue about the home housing market yet has not sold a house since the mid 1970's and is as worried as much about his real estate investments - even though he has no money of his own - as he is with his promotional advertising business - so I guess if you want to buy a calendar, he is the guy to go to...I'm just not so sure about real estate, unless you want a lecture on what not to do)
Instead, I much prefer to align myself with qualified, competent and ethical loan officers who I know will act with a fiduciary responsibility towards our mutual clients. Heck, one of my preferred team lenders is so ethical that they have not yet had to file a single Notice of Default (NOD) on a home they have written...so far this year. Nor have they had to buy back a loan that was brokered out . . .so these guys are ultimate conservatives when it comes to lending money.
However, even when a certain individual took my words, twisted them completely and posted to my brokers blog about my denial of having any financial sense whatsoever, I became quite perturbed - to the point where I started eliminating any links between me and this other individual - and I will continue to do so until every conceivable link - in every conceivable comment has been wiped clean from ActiveRain. He's probably lucky I don't sue him, as my attorney has already looked at what was said and believes I have a case. However, as a Christian businessman, that is not my desire...any more than it is my desire to ever speak with him again.
I started with this prologue because of a very important email I received. I subscribe to a newsletter from the Investors Daily Edge website. Please understand that this website refers to all sorts of investments including real estate, the stock markets, for currency exchanges and just about everything else that has to do with money. If you don't subscribe, I certainly endorse it as a great place to gather news from yet one more reliable source.
And Now For the NEWS. . .
Today there was an article called Step Away from the Sewage by Dr. Russell McDougal. Now before we go into the article, I want to go on the record that I am not a typical doomsayer and pride myself in making lemonade out of the lemons I have. Those who know me and read my blog regularly will back me up on this.
However, it is hard to not have a feeling of instability when you see everything that is going on in the world. Dr. McDougal believes that eh world is in a global financial crises and that chaos has become the norm since the beginning of August, 2007. Perhaps the Dr. is a conspiracy theorist and perhaps he is not, but he adamantly believes that every effort is being made to keep us, "the public calm and pretty much uninformed". He also makes a profound revelation when he simply says, "Those people least informed stand to lose the most. Do not be one of them."
Quoting directly from the lengthy article, I found the following sums up everything that he discusses and needs to be repeated, word for word...so please take a look.
These are anything but ordinary times. Germany's pre-eminent financial regulator, Jochen Sanio, called the present situation "the worst banking crisis since 1931." What started out earlier this year as a subprime mortgage meltdown in the United States has since cascaded into a full-blown global crisis. Recent highlights include:
- Multiple international hedge fund blowups
- Worst one-day fall in global stock markets since the dotcom devastation
- Central banks in the U.S., Europe, and Asia pouring at least $300 billion (more paper money) into the system on Aug 9 and 10
- Supposedly "safe" money market funds shedding 30 percent of their value
- U.S. Treasury Bonds not even offered internationally in a recent week
- Credit market freeze-up
- Currencies plunging or appreciating uncontrollably
- Unknown losses and unknown values in a multitude of global assets
- Fannie and Freddie Krueger being called to the rescue
- The Fed panicking and cutting the discount rate to banks on August 17
- Four-week Treasury bills plunging to four percent, well below the Fed Funds rate
- Decay well underway in the real estate coffin
- Banks in general under duress as well
So much for containment of the subprime (crap) mortgage lending problem. It has clearly gone global now and isn't going away any time soon. The crisis is an order of magnitude greater than what was required after September 11, 2001.
I would suggest you set aside another 10 minutes and read the articleI mentioned. Dr. McDougal goes on to analyze the situation and make his recommendations as to where to put your money, and I have to agree with him...
So lets get together and make our lemonade...before it's too late.
So, Until Next Time,
Now Have a Blessed Day,
by John Occhi, Hemet REALTOR®
Mission Grove Realty
Preforeclosure Specialist
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