Some good news about the economy for once

[mustangj17]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101027/BUSINESS01/10270443/1318/Ford-races-toward-its-best-annual-profit-since-1998

Chrysler and GM in much better places too. It's amazing that these three companies, who were nearly doomed because of the housing market, are bouncing back - yet the housing market still blows.

Thank you banking industry!

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Housing market was in fantasyland for a long, long time. Not at all convinced it's going to take
two decades to bounce back (as some say), but there's plenty of healing left to be done.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I thought this was an election thread.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

No, thank God.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

No, thank God.

Hey, no bringing religion into this discussion.

 

[Boom_70]

Talking about the economy is really politics . this thread should be locked.

 

[Stitch]

The housing market won't be fixed until the foreclosure mess is cleaned up. I wonder how many people who aren't paying their mortgage are actually saving for the day when they get evicted.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

They had a great 60 Minutes piece a few months back about people who were just bailing on their mortgages because the home isn't worth nearly what they owe. I have a friend who did something similar recently in Vegas. The guy is a lawyer and said doing it will save him about $150K.

 

[Boom_70]

They had a great 60 Minutes piece a few months back about people who were just bailing on their mortgages because the home isn't worth nearly what they owe. I have a friend who did something similar recently in Vegas. The guy is a lawyer and said doing it will save him about $150K.

Makes sense. No style points for giving the bank more money.

 

[nmmetsfan]

It might make sense but how ****ty is it? You make a commitment and fail to follow through with it on purpose? What does that say about you as a person?

Regardless of how big the asshats are in the banking industry, it doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshat.

 

[Ace]

It might make sense but how ****ty is it? You make a commitment and fail to follow through with it on purpose? What does that say about you as a person?

Regardless of how big the asshats are in the banking industry, it doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshat.

Disagree. Those are the rules that are set up and you are playing by the rules.

These bankers wouldn't give a second thought to screwing someone legally.

You still take a hit and pay a price for doing it.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Ace is right. The price of walking away is an almost total lack of access to future credit. Mind you, for many people, that's probably a blessing, but it does reduce one's big ticket purchase ability.

 

[Boom_70]

It might make sense but how ****ty is it? You make a commitment and fail to follow through with it on purpose? What does that say about you as a person?

Regardless of how big the asshats are in the banking industry, it doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshat.

Principle goes out the window in that situation. It's about self survival and making a good business decision. No sense throwing good money after bad. You are balancing the lesser of two evils. In those severe situations struggling to pay the mortgage is just postponing the inevitable.

 

[User 11148]

It might make sense but how ****ty is it? You make a commitment and fail to follow through with it on purpose? What does that say about you as a person?

Regardless of how big the asshats are in the banking industry, it doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshat.

I don't see it as ****ty. Buying a house is (or was) in many cases like buying a put option -- for a given stream of cash flows, you received the right to control the underlying asset for some period of time until you sold it. So long as the asset appreciated, your option was "in the money." When the asset depreciated, your option fell out of the money. That the banks mis-priced this put option isn't your fault.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It sucks. I can say I would never do it, but a large portion of my house has been paid off. They were saying that they would rent for the next seven years when their credit would then be cleared.

 

[mustangj17]

It sucks. I can say I would never do it, but a large portion of my house has been paid off. They were saying that they would rent for the next seven years when their credit would then be cleared.

I wonder how much that would cost them. I don't know about the cost of renting in Vegas but lets just say it costs them $1000 per month. For seven years that's what? $84,000? Even if they rent for a $1900 or less per month they are probably still coming out ahead.

 

[Boom_70]

It sucks. I can say I would never do it, but a large portion of my house has been paid off. They were saying that they would rent for the next seven years when their credit would then be cleared.

Makes sense - and the money they are saving now from not paying mortgage will go to rent deposit , ect. It's about survival as opposed to honor when you get in that situation. The days when you are sticking it to the local savings and loan are long gone.

 

[Starman]

Ace is right. The price of walking away is an almost total lack of access to future credit. Mind you, for many people, that's probably a blessing, but it does reduce one's big ticket purchase ability.

All that ****'s over with anyway.

Over the next 30-40 years, the vast majority of Americans are going to experience a steady and precipitous drop in their standard of living.

However good your life was in the last 3-5 years, you better have enjoyed it, because it'll never be that good again. Probably not even close.

 

[Boom_70]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101027/BUSINESS01/10270443/1318/Ford-races-toward-its-best-annual-profit-since-1998

Chrysler and GM in much better places too. It's amazing that these three companies, who were nearly doomed because of the housing market, are bouncing back - yet the housing market still blows.

Thank you banking industry!

Raises the question - Ford did not take Obama bailout money and were rewarded for good business decisions. GM and Chrysler were poorly run and saved for now by Obama bailout.

I still think we should have let the free market runs it course. Time will tell.

 

[cranberry]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101027/BUSINESS01/10270443/1318/Ford-races-toward-its-best-annual-profit-since-1998

Chrysler and GM in much better places too. It's amazing that these three companies, who were nearly doomed because of the housing market, are bouncing back - yet the housing market still blows.

Thank you banking industry!

Raises the question - Ford did not take Obama bailout money and were rewarded for good business decisions. GM and Chrysler were poorly run and saved for now by Obama bailout.

I still think we should have let the free market runs it course. Time will tell.

That's a lot of jobs saved by Obama ... for now. But even if temporary those bailouts will have kept food on the tables of thousands of middle class workers for several years. And like the first Chrysler bailout (remember Lee Iacocca?), the money will be repaid to the government.