by Calculated Risk on 3/07/2009 10:44:00 PM

Click on cartoon for full cartoon in new window.

From Dilbert.com

Best to all (ht Ilya).

by Calculated Risk on 2/28/2009 08:29:00 PM

For your Saturday evening ...

by Calculated Risk on 2/27/2009 09:31:00 PM

Tomorrow morning at 8AM ET, the Buffett letter to investors will be released, and later I'll post a February Economic Summary in Graphs.

The AIG deal might be announced Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Today real GDP growth was revised down to minus 6.2% (annualized), the Citi deal was announced, two banks failed (Heritage Community Bank, Glenwood, Illinois and Security Savings Bank, Henderson, Nevada), and the S&P 500 is back to 1996 prices.

Also, the Restaurant Performance Index for January was released, and here is a look at Investment Contributions to GDP.

If you need a laugh after reading that news, Jim the Realtor showcases an investment opportunity in San Diego - enjoy!

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2009 11:01:00 PM

The Daily Show offers some stimulus ideas ...

by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2009 05:41:00 PM

This is making the rounds. Enjoy... (hat tip Nick in Kyoto, original source unknown)

Edit: Yes, the last couple are obviously fake. More on the source from snopes. (ht Tim at Seattlebubble.com)

Click on photos for larger image in new window.

TARP

by Calculated Risk on 2/16/2009 12:25:00 PM

Comedian Jim the Realtor tells the story of Dictionary Hill ... (2 min 49 sec). You have to wait until the end ...

For a couple of ugly McMansions in foreclosure, see this Chula Vista video. This is foreclosure alley in a higher price range. And yes, even homes that original sold for over one million dollars are sometimes destroyed by the owners:

by Calculated Risk on 1/31/2009 12:41:00 AM

Remember Dr. Evil and Mini-Me? Here is another one ... (hat tip bentway, Chancels)



Click on photo for larger image in new window.


Does Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner look like Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove?

Maybe ...

by Calculated Risk on 1/26/2009 12:53:00 PM

Click on photo for larger image in new window.

Photo Credit: Otishertz

Otishertz spotted this Ice Cream truck in Portland yesterday. Thanks for sharing!

Umpqua Bank received $214 million from TARP in mid-November.

They cut their dividend recently according to the Portland Business Journal:

Umpqua Bank parent Umpqua Holdings Inc., based in Portland, cut its quarterly dividend in December to 5 cents from prior payments of 19 cents per share.

At least we know what they are using the TARP money for: Free ice cream!

by Calculated Risk on 1/23/2009 05:08:00 PM

Enjoy ...

by Calculated Risk on 1/19/2009 02:49:00 PM

For a laugh, here is a house in Carlsbad, CA west of the freeway selling for under $400 thousand ... from Jim the Realtor:

Wow. Who could live there? (backs to the "Detroit River" ROFLOL)

Houses are even cheaper in Detroit. From Dow Jones: How low can homes go? Try $0

[T]he median price of a home sold in Detroit last month was $7,500, according to Realcomp, a Farmington Hills, Mich., multiple-listing service, down 50 percent from last year.

[Detroit real estate agent Ian Mason] counted 1,228 homes listed for under $10,000, 209 of which were under $1,000.

"Many of them are in pretty decent shape," he said, "and some can be lived in."

Define "live".

by Calculated Risk on 12/25/2008 12:17:00 PM

A special present for UberNerds - a previously unpublished Tanta post (written Dec 31, 2007):

Pig Rulz
There have been some misconceptions in the comments about Mortgage Pig™. I do not wish to enter a new year on the wrong track.

Mortgage Pig™ does not have a "name" except Mortgage Pig™. Assertions about Mortgage Pig™'s "name," "address," "job," "significant other," or favorite swill are not canonical. Anyone who asserts knowledge of such things in any communication, written or otherwise, is creating an Internet Urban Legend. Next thing you know they'll be telling you that you can Get Rich Qwik in RE investing.

And from Tanta's 2007 Post: A Very Nerdy Christmas (see her post for an explanation of the origins of the Mortgage Pig™)

Click on Pig for larger image in new window.

Happy Holidays to all! CR

by Calculated Risk on 11/23/2008 12:38:00 AM

Headlines (hat tip Justin):
*SOMALI PIRATES APPLY TO BECOME BANK TO ACCESS TARP
*PAULSON: TARP PIRATE EQUITY IS AN `INVESTMENT,' WILL PAY OFF
*KASHKARI SAYS `SOMALI PIRATES ARE 'FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND' '
*Moody's upgrade Somali Pirates to AAA
*HUD SAYS SOMALI DHOW FORECLOSURE PROGRAM HAD `VERY LOW' PARTICIPATION
*SOMALI PIRATES IN DISCUSSION TO ACQUIRE CITIBANK
*FED OFFICIALS: AGGRESSIVE EASING WOULD CUT SOMALI PIRATE RISK
*FED AGREED OCT. 29 TO TAKE `WHATEVER STEPS' NEEDED FOR SOMALI PIRATES

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

The Buccaneer Stops Here

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

by Calculated Risk on 11/17/2008 11:13:00 PM

For those that miss all the yelling from the talking heads during the political season, the Onion panel debates if the government should stop dumping money into a hole (1 minuted 56 seconds). (hat tip jb)

by Calculated Risk on 11/01/2008 08:08:00 AM

Ben Bernanke, Please Send Me Some Green! (2 min 19 secs)

by Calculated Risk on 10/25/2008 09:08:00 AM

Click on cartoon for larger image in new window. Used with permission from cartoonist John Ambrosavage at Ambrotoons.com email for ambrotoons

by Calculated Risk on 10/24/2008 11:47:00 PM

Life Imitates Art (hat tip John) ... only 20 seconds.

Update: Greenspan and Casablanca "Shocked" 19 seconds

by Calculated Risk on 10/18/2008 11:30:00 AM

From Gail Collins at the NY Times: Is Anybody Happy?

George W. Bush showed up on TV Friday morning to reassure the nation. What could possibly be worse?

Everybody knows that anything our president says is very likely wrong, and certainly won’t happen. If he announced: “I’m sending government agents to Spokane to arrest the looters,” we would expect that the officials would get lost, nobody would be arrested, and the looters probably never existed in the first place.

So hearts sunk throughout the nation when Bush appeared at a Chamber of Commerce gathering to say that the economy would recover.

“America is the most attractive destination for investors around the globe. America is the home of the most talented and enterprising and creative workers in the world,” said the president, who also insisted that “democratic capitalism remains the greatest system ever devised.”

Which translates into: all the money is going to Asia, nobody will ever get a job again and Karl Marx was right after all.

Bummer.

Yes - many Americans feel they have been living in Bizarro world.

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2008 10:38:00 PM

From Hannah Wood at Mirror.co.uk: Top 10 credit crunch jokes to have you laughing all the way to the bank

1) I went to the ATM this morning and it said "insufficient funds"..

I'm wondering is it them or me?

2) Petrol is way too expensive these days. I actually can't afford to drive.

Last time I went dogging, I had to ask my mum to give me a lift.

3) With the current market turmoil, what's the easiest way to make a small fortune?

Start off with a large one.

My favorite:

How do you define optimism?

A banker who irons five shirts on a Sunday

by Calculated Risk on 10/10/2008 10:34:00 AM

Click on cartoon for larger image in new window.

Here is a grim take on the markets from from Eric G. Lewis, a freelance cartoonist living in Orange County, CA.

by Calculated Risk on 10/09/2008 08:57:00 PM

Just in good fun ... (hat tip NoVAOnlooker)

	See: Bailout Role Elevates U.S. Official
Hank Paulson ("Dr. Evil")	Neel Kashkari ("Mini-Me")