Chart Porn: Subprime Apocalypse

This chart shows the total dollar value of non-traditional mortgages tracked by quarter since 2001. As you can see these types of mortgages, particularly Subprime and Alt-A mortgages, have all but disappeared in 2008. What is striking is the particular frenzy of such mortages being issued during the first half of 2007 before the bottom fell out. All in all, this represents the disappearance of what was as of 2006 nearly a trillion dollar annual market almost overnight.

Yet another dramatic illustration of why home values are continuing to crash.

rubenation's top 3 "Scumbags of the Week"

Time once again to name the Top 3 individuals or entities that did the most damage to the republic during the past seven days. This week we start with the man most responsible for putting Chimpy in the White House:

1). Supreme Court Justice Antonin "Get Over It" Scalia. As part of his continuing campaign to be remembered as the worst Supreme Court Justice in American history, Scalia was quoted this week saying, "get over it," in response to a question about the results of Bush vs. Gore. So, we the people are supposed to just forget that the Scalia court trumped a half-million vote Al Gore majority to usher in the worst President in American History. In your dreams, asshole.

2). The Democratic Primary Voters of Pennsylvania (D-idiots). Not content with eight years of incompetent elitist nepotism in the White House in which the working class and middle class have gotten royally screwed, the Dem voters in the Keystone State voted for four more years of more or less the same thing.

3). John "Let's Bulldoze the 9th Ward" McLame. Mr. Old-Man-Shakes-Fist-at-Cloud just seems to outdo himself every week in sheer out of touch-itude. First there was the proposal to destroy the nation's highways by eliminating the gas tax, there there was his off-the-cuff suggestion to raze the worst hit area of New Orleans. Now we know what he really meant by his new War on Poverty pledge.

Till next week, peace out.

Households Going Broke

Need more proof than American households are drowning in debt? Here ya go.

Chart Porn: California Default Notices

This is one of those charts that pretty much explains itself. Over at the far right, you can see how the number of mortgage defaults in the nation's largest state have absolutely exploded. Of course, the 2008 data is extrapolated based upon first quarter numbers, but does any reasonable person expect it will get better as this year wears on?

Why Does Pennsyl-tucky Hate America?

Way to go PA. Way to breath life back into the hideous Hillary campaign. Way to go, especially, working class voters of the Keystone state. What, eight years of incompetent elitist nepotism in the White House wasn't enough for you?

Just like in the general elections of 2000 and 2004, far too many of you voted against your economic interests. And America is far worse off because of it.

Those Who Forget the Past...

...can REALLY make a fool of themselves in public.

$119 - The Only Economic Indicator that Matters

Oil prices hit $119.90 per barrel today. In 2002, during the run up to the Iraq War, oil was trading for as little $22 per barrel. That's a nearly fivefold increase in just six years.

You can have your Dow Jones Industrial Average, your S&P 500, your unemployment rate, your official inflation rate, your currency exchange rate, etc., etc., etc. When it comes to the economy, there is only one figure that really matters.

And right now that figure is $119 a barrel.

Mexico Running Out of Oil

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080421/mexico_oil_production.html

Many people don't realize it, but Mexico is actually one of the US's top oil suppliers. Unfortunately, they're running out south of the border:

Mexico's state-run oil company said Monday that oil production fell 7.8 percent to 2.91 million barrels a day in the first quarter as current reserves dwindle.

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has struggled with falling reserves, especially at its main Cantarell oil field, and lacks the money and expertise to launch new drilling projects. Pemex only has enough proven oil reserves to last nine years at current production rates.


Nine years. And Mexico will be totally drained.

Peak Oil: It's not just a wacko, lefty looney theory anymore.

The Late, Great Bill Hicks on Gays in the Military

"Anyone...DUMB ENOUGH...to want to join the military, ought to be allowed in."

Be All You Can Be: A Felon

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Army_doubled_felony_waivers_for_recruits_0421.html

This quote pretty much says it all:

The Army doubled the number of waivers it issued to allow convicted felons to enlist between 2006 and 2007, while felony waivers issued to Marine recruits increased by nearly 70 percent, according to newly released numbers from the Pentagon.

Yeah, these are exactly the types of people you want representing you when you're trying to build a democracy. Any wonder why the Iraqis aren't falling all over themselves to kiss our feet in gratitude?

Food Rationing in the United States?

http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994

Apparently so, though it is hardly an epidemic. Here's a quote:

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

This is another story to watch over the long term. Americans cannot fathom such a thing as food shortages in their own country, but its likely to get worse going forward.

Gasoline and Food Costs Crowding Out Other Spending

This, of course, is no great surprise. Two things to note here: 1). The dramatic drop in spending on anything other than necessities, and 2). This is already the largest drop in non-gasoline spending since the Daddy Bush recession.

rubenation's Top 3 Scumbags of the Week, All Press Edition

Yes, it is time once again to call out the three individuals or groups who caused the most damage to the republic during the past seven days. We have an all "media watchdog" edition this week, proving once again that only thing the corporate media watches out for in America these days is its own self interest.

1). Charlie "Newsreader" Gibson and George "I Wanna Be a Serious Journalist When I Grow Up" Stephanopoulos. Worst. Presidential Debate Moderators. Ever. Granted, the bar wasn't set too high, but these two dopes still managed get far underneath it. When future historians debate just how our early 21st century political and media culture became so infantile, they'll use a video of this debacle as exhibit one.

2). David "I'm Just as Arrogant on TV as I am in Print" Brooks. The New York Times's 3rd worst columnist (after Kristol and Friedman) took to the airwaves to defend Gibson, et al. And thusly does The Old Grey Lady reaffirm its motto changeover to "All the News that's Full of Shit."

3). W. Dean Singleton, Chairman of the Associated "Press". The latest scumbag to publically conflate "Obama" and "Osama," and perhaps the first to have the guts to do it to Obama's face. If you think these incidents represent innocent mistakes, then you don't realize just how much of a threat to the status quo represented by the so-called "villagers" Obama actually is.

The Recession Hits Tinsel Town

Just read today that movie box office receipts are down 7% thus far this year. Part of decline, to be sure, might be because of the underwhelming fare Hollywood has released lately. George Clooney's Leatherheads, for example, was a critical and commercial bomb despite the fact that Clooney in an action comedy is usually money in the bank.

This leads me to present the second of my own personal economic indicators: Empty Seats in Movie Theaters or ESMT. I will be tracking these figures from time to time along with the ESBP, Empty Seats at Ballparks.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go watch No Country for Old Men on DVD again.

At Least ONE International Stock Market "Gets It"

By all rational measures, the U.S. stock market should have entered a deep decline by now. The spiraling gas prices have taken money out of consumers' hands, and there is every indication that it is just going to get worse as summer approaches.

Interestingly, investors in Shanghai, representing the country where many of America's crappy consumer goods are produced, have already seen the market crash. As this graph shows, the Shanghai Composit is down nearly 50% since October.

More reason to believe that this recent run up in American stocks is just a "dead cat bounce" and there will be a dramatic reversal in the near future.

The Numbers

Chimpy's DISAPPROVAL Rating: 67% (highest ever)

Those Who Think the Economy is "Poor" or "Not Good": 90%

Price of a Barrel of Oil Today: $117

Average Price of a Gallon of Gas Today: $3.45

Average Price of a Gallon of Diesel Today: $4.17

Pilots Claim Airliners Forced to Fly With Low Fuel

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24034468/

That's right, as if it wasn't already aggravating enough to fly these days, now the pilot's union is claiming that the airlines are trying to cut costs by not putting enough jet fuel into their planes.

So they practically strip search you going through airport security, confiscating any 3.5 ounce bottle of mouthwash, just so you can die when a jet stuck in a holding pattern crashes while circling the airport.

Fucking brilliant.

More Chart Porn: March Inflation Numbers

This chart shows the year over year producer price index with the 2% target rate represented by the red dotted line. What is striking beyond the staggering jump in the raw/crude inflation numbers is how the finished product numbers are lagging way behind.

I'll admit I'm no economist, but I would gather that there's some lag time before the finished product prices catch up with the raw/crude prices. So just imagine how bad inflation will be by this summer.

Oil Hits $114 a Barrel

Yes, yet another new record today for oil prices. Also, gasoline spiked to $3.38 per gallon a diesel fuel surged to $4.11 per gallon nationally, both also records.

At the risk of overusing my own catchphrase:

Peak Oil, it's not just a wacko, left wing looney theory anymore.

Chart Porn: Gas Prices Vs. Oil Prices

This chart is for anyone out there who still believes that gasoline prices are rising solely because the big oil companies are ripping us off. The chart above depicts the price of gas (in red) vs. the price of crude oil (in blue) since July 2002.

What is striking about the figures (other than the the fact that a barrel of oil was only about 25 bucks less than six years ago) is the dramatic recent upward arc of oil prices and how gasoline has thus far failed to keep pace. If the two had remained true to their historical comparative norm, we'd already be paying about $6.oo per gallon for gas.

Peak Oil. It's not just a wacko, left wing looney theory anymore.