Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Memetrics
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | |
| S&P futures | 3915 | 12.3 |
| Oil (WTI) | 58.14 | -0.34 |
| 10 year government bond yield | 1.14% | |
| 30 year fixed rate mortgage | 2.85% |
Stocks are flattish this morning as earnings continue to come in. Bonds and MBS are flat.
Initial Jobless Claims fell to 739k last week. It looks like the layoffs are starting to ease up, but we are still pretty elevated compared to historical norms.
The FHFA extended its foreclosure moratorium until the end of March. In addition, loans backed by Fan or Fred are eligible for a foreclosure extension for up to three months, and can defer payments for up to 15 months. “To keep families in their home during the pandemic, FHFA is allowing borrowers to be in COVID-19 forbearance for up to 15 months and extending the Enterprises’ foreclosure and eviction extension,” said FHFA Director Mark Calabria.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that easy monetary policies will be in place for a while. The Fed is probably not going to “even think about withdrawing policy support” for the foreseeable future. He also said that monetary policy alone will be insufficient to get the economy going again and it will require fiscal stimulus and efforts from the private sector. “It will require a society-wide commitment, with contributions from across government and the private sector” What “contributions from the private sector” means is anyone’s guess. Here are the prepared remarks from his speech.
Mortgage delinquencies fell by 92 basis points in the fourth quarter to 6.73%, according to the MBA. This is an increase of 296 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. “For the second consecutive quarter, homeowners’ ability to make their mortgage payments improved,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis. “The 92-basis-point drop in the delinquency rate in the fourth quarter was the biggest quarterly decline in the history of MBA’s survey dating back to 1979. Total mortgage delinquencies across the three loan types – conventional, FHA and VA – and across the major stages of delinquency – 30-day, 60-day and 90-day – declined from last year’s third quarter.”
Filed under: Economy, Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
This is what Republicans ought to be talking about:
LikeLike
If progressivism can’t work there, why should the country believe it can work anywhere else?
because the left doesn’t give a shit about results, all they care about is intentions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think for a lot of them it’s just the age old problem: people don’t know what they don’t know.
It’s not that they don’t give a shit about results and prioritize intentions (certainly not consciously). They just intuitively feel things and think that’s science. It seems like a system like they want would be better and have no meaningful secondary consequences, so of course we should go with that, and anyone who disagrees clearly is anti-science and also doesn’t want good outcomes for anybody because they are racist and don’t want any minorities to have a better life.
Data analysis is a lot of work. Getting your head around big data is difficult. Distinguishing between correlation and causation can be very hard with large data sets over time. MUCH easier to think, “This sounds good to me, so it’s right. Done!”
While I expect there are many cynical progressives in politics, the media, and elsewhere, I think a lot of them just have no concept of how to implement policy beyond “if it feels good, do it”.
LikeLike
economics refers to it as “specific knowledge” which is a big junk drawer for info about how industries actually work.
They think they can over-engineer their theories to not trip up on it, but it doesn’t always work.
That said, the government is 100% control of interest rates so we are in the midst of the biggest government intervention into the economy the world has ever seen since the 1940s.
LikeLike
“This is what Republicans ought to be talking about”
So one more thing we can add to the list of things the GOP should talk about or do that they aren’t and they won’t. Yay!
LikeLike
It’s also worse than Ezra allows for. This is the last person I would want to see with authority over an educational system or actually teaching:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-san-francisco-renamed-its-schools
LikeLike
She represents a lot of teachers and school staff. In modern education equity has replaced education as the priority.
Also equal outcomes is replacing individually paved education. It’s a mess. China is going to steamroll us.
LikeLike
KW:
Also equal outcomes is replacing individually paved education. It’s a mess. China is going to steamroll us.
Well, at least we finally have an administration in the WH that will be willing to push back against this woke nonsense.
LikeLike
LOL
LikeLike
Well, I will definitely be holding my breath for that!
LikeLike
That is astounding. Thanks for the link, Joe.
LikeLike
Mark:
That is astounding.
Not so much if you have been paying attention to what the left has become over the last decade or two. I fully expect to see this kind of thinking increasingly promoted at the federal level now that the D’s have the White House again.
LikeLike
Nice Capital ya got there, be a shame if something happened to it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/11/if-republican-senators-acquit-trump-they-will-own-violence-that-follows/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main
Has a real “baby, why you make me hit you.” vibe to it.
Best show on earth!
LikeLike
And it wasn’t even a hostile or particularly challenging interviewer.
LikeLike
“If Republican senators acquit Trump, they will own the violence that follows”
Who owns the violence if he’s convicted?
LikeLike
Well, if there is one thing we’ve learned, it’s not the perpetrators of the violence, that would require agency.
LikeLike
Bummer for the theater, Senate D’s reversed their vote on witnesses (pussies) and so Trump is acquitted. The fun news is that 7 Republicans voted to convict so their primaries will be awesome to watch. Also, should the D’s pass a Bill of Attainder that prohibits Trump from holding office we know it’ll be bipartisan and that will be amazing to watch the aftermath.
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/2/13/2015829/-Despite-a-bipartisan-vote-to-convict-Trump-is-acquitted-after-Senate-fails-to-reach-2-3-margin
LikeLike
What I find the most amusing about the comments is the certainty that any member of Congress or their staff were in any sort of physical danger.
LikeLike
If there was violence because Trump was convicted, that would be Trump and the Republicans fault as well!
LikeLike
The self destruction of the NYT continues:
LikeLike
How long until the government demands that we have NYT radio playing on our computers 24/7 like the Soviets did?
LikeLike
Should be NPR. Or Voice of America. Same content but officially the product of our benevolent leaders.
LikeLike
How hard would it be to force apple and microsoft to embed it in their operating systems?
Heck, you could have the FCC do it.
LikeLike
Will you all join me in praying that this is attempted?
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/dems-next-plot-against-trump-if-senate-impeachment-joseph-klein/
Also, anybody else disappointed in how bloodless and anemic the Democrats are in this impeachment? It gives “going through the motions” a bad name. I’ve banged Thai hookers who were more enthusiastic.
LikeLike
Let’s not forget this is the publication that won a Pulitzer for covering up Holomodor.
To me, that is the defining characteristic of the New York Times. A propaganda outlet for Communist dictators.
LikeLike
Went to read the tweet. Was reminded that Twitter is a cesspool.
LikeLike
Something you might appreciate Scott:
“The definition for ending a pandemic is when people collectively give up caring”
LikeLike
jnc:
Something you might appreciate Scott:
Yup, that tweet has it just about right I think.
LikeLike
I think more and more people will collectively give up caring. At the same time, I bet you money this time next year news media and pundits will still be saying we are in the middle of a pandemic.
LikeLike
The newest variant will always be Ebola II.
LikeLike
Of course they got the factual details wrong:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why do we not know how or even when he died?
It can only be because it does not fit the narrative.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the only conclusion. Also I keep hearing (from Conservative, Inc. and even people who are left-of-center but I would assume are not part of the narrative machine intentionally) that crazy Trump people broke into the Capitol and beat a police officer to death with a fire extinguisher. Which (apparently) did not happen at all.
But also going on about how it was the worst thing to happen ever. John Podohertz (since Commentary still can’t stop talking about Trump, all the time) went on about his horrifying vision of how if a capitol police officer had not re-directed Mitt Romney away from the mob, these crazy Trump supporters would have gleefully beat him to death and torn him limb-from-limb.
All that kind of overblown hyperbole does is make me think that what they are describing is literally the last thing that could have ever possibly happened. And mobs do crazy things, so anything is possible, yet I feel like they wouldn’t be pushing this narrative so hard if there was any real truth to it.
Subjective. Could be way off.
LikeLike
You’re not and rational people don’t think any congresspeople were in danger. Except for AOC who was going to be raped by a Capital policeman apparently.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The obvious answer to his question is, beyond being ideologically biased and at least in part financially owned by a variety of corporate entities and potentially fronts for the CCP, they just don’t care. They just make up stories now. They don’t do any actual fact checking, because fact checking has been redefined to finding a rhetorical argument to dispute unpleasant facts–not confirm things that fit the narrative. Why would you need to confirm something that makes not only a good “if it bleeds it leads” story but also perfectly conforms to the desired narrative?
It was all WAY too good to fact check. So they didn’t. They just reported whatever the game of telephone told them that happened. Maybe with some embellishment.
LikeLike
Greenwald’s Twitter feed is becoming a fact checking clearing house for the Capitol riot:
https://www.insider.com/zip-tie-guy-capitol-riot-plastic-handcuffs-police-prosecutors-2021-1
LikeLike
Today is Marbury v. Madison day, I think…
LikeLiked by 1 person
OK….I’m assuming this is parody, but in the current environment, can one really be sure?
LikeLiked by 1 person
A glimmer of self awareness, but he can’t quite get there:
I’d be more interested in hearing him revisit these comments from Bill Maher:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/07/donald-trump-keith-olbermann-sanity-test
LikeLike
Regarding the NYT article, this is not the end of finding an enemy to obsessively hate on. They will continue to do it to Trump (or avatars of Trump) as best they can until a new ideal enemy surfaces.
LikeLike
“In office, Trump was the greatest threat to U.S. democracy. Now it may be Tucker Carlson.
Opinion by Max Boot
Feb. 12, 2021 at 2:05 p.m. EST”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/12/tucker-carlson-conspiracies-fox-news-dangerous/
LikeLike
Lol! I once asked people on the PL what they thought was more important, being allowed to get your own POV out or preventing someone dangerous from getting their POV out. Most picked the latter.
LikeLike
You would be forgiven for forgetting that Keith Olbermann thought George W Bush was Literally. Hitler. and was just as deranged about him as he was about Trump.
It was so pronounced that Ben Affleck did a Keith Olbermann bit on SNL.
It isn’t about Trump. It is about people who disagree with the Left.
LikeLike
On anything. And it’s almost more about people who don’t use the label than substantive philosophical disagreements.
Obama adopted a very Bush stance on military interventions. Clinton was into all sorts of unnecessary military engagements before Bush. Then Trump delivers on more of Obama’s anti-war rhetoric than Obama even tried to do and he’s still Literally Hitler.
Hard to take the hate seriously.
LikeLike
They’ve reduced politics to moral vs immoral. Therefor, opposition is by definition not just wrong but immoral. There doesn’t seem to be a gradient of immorality however so there is no difference between not wanting men in women’s locker rooms or rounding up people based on religion, sexual preference or immutable characteristics and shooting them.
But thank goodness no more mean tweets. We really dodged a bullet there.
LikeLike
Lol!
https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2021/02/14/in-must-watch-clip-trump-attorney-michael-van-der-veen-citizen-destroys-media-n326804
LikeLike