Pandemonium in Venezuela.

[Rodent + 1,424]

14 minutes ago, Dan Warnick said:

Very interesting article indeed.  Beyond sad, beyond bad. 

from that article: "...people who say that putrid water had come out of the shower as they bathed'

COME ON!!!!

i think the article might be wrong. Maduro says everything is a-ok. 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

19 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

What you are seeing here is the  next stage in the big Wall Street Property Theft:  the creation of a very small group of people on the Street, roughly 3,000, who end up owning the entire country, with everybody else becoming a land-rent tenant.   It is the reincarnation of Ireland at the time of the potato famine, which pushed so many Irish off the land and into emigration to the USA.  The real question is:  will the Americans put up with it, and knuckle under, or will they rise up in some variant of revolution? And if so, how will the thieves respond?

So far, the institutions that would be expected to step in where this type of theft occurs have utterly failed  (in part due to the devious way the scheme was developed).  The Court system has collapsed.  The Trustee system is useless.  The Federal Government is paralyzed with the fear that arresting the offenders will collapse the financial system;  I point to the failures of Mr. Obama as the principal cause of that.  I jsut don't see Mr.  Trump stepping in  (nor his attorney general Mr. Sessions).  So, that leaves the "plaintiff's bar" and big fat lawsuits, although I suspect the hedge funds of the Street will shrug those off as just another cost of doing business. 

Memo to US readers:  if you find yourself sitting on some jury and an enraged homeowner is suing some big bank for theft and fraud, go ahead and whack that bank with a seriously hefty judgment, something that will make them sit up and take notice.  At least 100 million.  At those numbers, you are going to force a reckoning.  Gotta start somewhere on this mess.

After learning about the house rental part of this story from you two fine gentlemen, this article and video report comes out today on Bloomberg:

"Rental Glut Sends Chill Through the Hottest U.S. Housing Markets"

And because of what you 2 explained/exposed about what Wall Street has done with the foreclosed homes, they have, in their own words "created a new asset class" of rental homes vs home ownership.  And, therefore we know that the President from GTIS Partners (video) is NOT telling even half the true story.  Namely that they have shifted the housing market to their advantage in that they have found another way to profitize on these repossessed homes from the 2008 crises.  I'll say this: these guys are good at generating margins, for themselves, not the average American.

Now it is not only Buyer Beware, but Renter Beware as well.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Dan Warnick

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

5 hours ago, Dan Warnick said:

After learning about the house rental part of this story from you two fine gentlemen, this article and video report comes out today on Bloomberg:

"Rental Glut Sends Chill Through the Hottest U.S. Housing Markets"

And because of what you 2 explained/exposed about what Wall Street has done with the foreclosed homes, they have, in their own words "created a new asset class" of rental homes vs home ownership.  And, therefore we know that the President from GTIS Partners (video) is NOT telling even half the true story.  Namely that they have shifted the housing market to their advantage in that they have found another way to profitize on these repossessed homes from the 2008 crises.  I'll say this: these guys are good at generating margins, for themselves, not the average American.

Now it is not only Buyer Beware, but Renter Beware as well.

And that is why I urge anyone and everyone to file lawsuits against these guys.  They are destroying America and Americans in order to enrich themselves. They want to turn the entire country into a vassal State, with themselves as feudal lords, including (later on) bringing back the concept of prima noche.  (For now, these bums content themselves with $10,000-a-night call girls. Yup, that is the rate for top-end hookers in New York City.)

I am spending this weekend writing up a pro-bono lawsuit for a widow and children that got victimized by Wells Fargo.  They foreclosed on this woman (family) after her husband died, did not bother with the requirement to make a claim in probate court, just blew by that in their insolent style, ran over her with a bulldozer, using fraudulent paperwork. What they hadn't counted on was that they are now dealing with me, and you don't want to get on my bad side.  The Dutch are notorious for holding a grudge; with the Spanish, they held one for 212 years. I am going to take these guys down, haul their ass in front of a jury, and hang them. These bums offered the widow $5,000 to move out, then sent her a check for only $1,500, conveniently forgetting about the rest of it, then when she went to a Wells Fargo branch to cash the check, they said you cannot cash it without opening an account.

OK, so she files the papers to open an account for the sole purpose of cashing the check from them.  And - they decline the application, saying she has "bad credit"  - the bad credit that Wells Fargo handed her by foreclosing wrongfully on her and her family, then reporting it to the Credit Bureaus!  So, the widow ends up sitting on a worthless check.

OK, Mr. Wells Fargo, you want to play rough, I am going to show you how it is done. You are no longer pushing around some hapless widow. You are dealing with The Dutchman. You are now officially on my Bad Side.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Jan van Eck

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

There was a scene in Caligula (a friend told me about it) in which the emperor gathered the newlyweds together and had his way with BOTH of them!  The newlyweds obviously did not dare to question the proceedings, though they were both visibly "uncomfortable" with it all.  I was, er, my friend was taken aback by the scene and couldn't explain it.  Prima Noche, eh?  I think this may actually be why we Americans have the 2nd amendment!

As for the widow and her children, tear Wells Fargo a new one, Jan.  And please make sure the news of it spreads far and wide.  But in case it doesn't receive widespread attention, please at least keep all of us informed.  Good luck to you and to the family.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

@Tom Kirkman @CMOP

Is there a way to move this discussion on U.S. foreclosures and rental houses to its own thread?  It has taken on a life of its own and I don't think any of us wants to impose on the Venezuelan tragedy discussion any further.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

5 minutes ago, Dan Warnick said:

 Prima Noche, eh?  I think this may actually be why we Americans have the 2nd amendment!   Sounds like a good enough reason for me.  Besides, those guys are scumbag New Yorkers, and I have had quite my fill of them. 

As for the widow and her children, tear Wells Fargo a new one, Jan.  And please make sure the news of it spreads far and wide.  But in case it doesn't receive widespread attention, please at least keep all of us informed.  Good luck to you and to the family.

Luck is for the unprepared.  In America, we make our own luck. the process is called "work.'

[jose chalhoub + 388]

On 9/6/2018 at 3:20 PM, Glenn Ellis said:

@Jan Erik

HAHA, gee, I hope for at least one Norte Americano, that is true.

venezuela historically has been open to immigration too much tolerance during the past decades, in extremis i believe, and now venezuelans fleeing the country searching for better ways to live have been treated unfair in my view. I know there's a mixed variety of emigrants from here but at large it has been proved the venezuelan emigration is between the most qualified and academically skilled in the world. Too much hipocrisy in South America regarding Venezuela i think. 

[jose chalhoub + 388]

11 hours ago, Dan Warnick said:

Very interesting article indeed.  Beyond sad, beyond bad.  And the comments at the bottom are also sadly revealing.  Some may think this is some kind of bad joke, but I'm going there anyway: 

We should tell Bernie there is an election to be won in Venezuela, and he should go right away.  Bernie will have no problem transferring the wealth of the most successful companies in the world to the 3rd world to even things out and to raise up the poor people who have been marginalized by evil capitalism!  Doesn't that sound like a Bernie speech?

Had to chance to live in Maracaibo for almost 4 years when working for pdvsa. Used to be a vibrating city, wonderful people, great night life. All of that is gone now. Power outages for more than 10 hours, affecting heavily its oil production consequently, smuggling of gasoline to Colombia, smuggling of everything as it is capital of a bordering state Zulia with Colombia. And no not a bad joke, a sad reality from which it will be too hard to get out from. 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

2 minutes ago, jose chalhoub said:

Had to chance to live in Maracaibo for almost 4 years when working for pdvsa. Used to be a vibrating city, wonderful people, great night life. All of that is gone now. Power outages for more than 10 hours, affecting heavily its oil production consequently, smuggling of gasoline to Colombia, smuggling of everything as it is capital of a bordering state Zulia with Colombia. And no not a bad joke, a sad reality from which it will be too hard to get out from. 

Hi Jose.  The bad joke part was to tell Bernie Sanders to go there and run for president.  I did not mean to imply that the situation is a bad joke.  Sorry if I was unclear.

[jose chalhoub + 388]

regarding the status of pdvsa, i have to say its darker and darker everyday. production falling month after month, workers conditions of life worsening, demanding higher wages, divided over the current directive and its president and more and more workers quitting to emigrate from Venezuela as the conditions find no better way and positive outlook and as there is growing uncertainties over the future of the salaries after the new economic measures implemented by President Maduro. 

[jose chalhoub + 388]

2 minutes ago, Dan Warnick said:

Hi Jose.  The bad joke part was to tell Bernie Sanders to go there and run for president.  I did not mean to imply that the situation is a bad joke.  Sorry if I was unclear.

no worries i was making another point clear... tranquilo.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

8 minutes ago, jose chalhoub said:

Had to chance to live in Maracaibo for almost 4 years when working for pdvsa. Used to be a vibrating city, wonderful people, great night life. All of that is gone now. Power outages for more than 10 hours, affecting heavily its oil production consequently, smuggling of gasoline to Colombia, smuggling of everything as it is capital of a bordering state Zulia with Colombia. And no not a bad joke, a sad reality from which it will be too hard to get out from. 

Yes, I have read that you have to live with crippling power outages, but hey, Maduro and his cronies say it is due to the Sun, so what can you do?  (Sarcasm) 

Venezuelans continue suffering through electricity blackouts

You couldn't find this crap in a bad movie and the government tries to pass it off to the people.

[Ryan McCormack 0]

🤣🤣

[Glenn Ellis + 57]

On 9/8/2018 at 9:49 AM, Dan Warnick said:

@Tom Kirkman @CMOP

Is there a way to move this discussion on U.S. foreclosures and rental houses to its own thread?  It has taken on a life of its own and I don't think any of us wants to impose on the Venezuelan tragedy discussion any further.

@Tom Kirkman  @CMOP

To the White Courtesy Phone PLEASE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Glenn Ellis + 57]

On 9/8/2018 at 9:52 AM, Jan van Eck said:

Luck is for the unprepared.  In America, we make our own luck. the process is called "work.'

Chance favors the prepared mind. Seeing all the different shades of gray, not just black and white, in the issues at hand, makes for a more informed decision.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

On 9/8/2018 at 10:49 PM, Dan Warnick said:

@Tom Kirkman @CMOP

Is there a way to move this discussion on U.S. foreclosures and rental houses to its own thread?  It has taken on a life of its own and I don't think any of us wants to impose on the Venezuelan tragedy discussion any further.

 

11 hours ago, Glenn Ellis said:

@Tom Kirkman  @CMOP

To the White Courtesy Phone PLEASE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Agreed, while discussion threads can take on a life of their own, further discussion on U.S. house rentals and foreclosures should be in a separate thread, as it is too far off topic for the incredibly difficult situations in Venezuela.

[Epic + 390]

On 9/7/2018 at 8:10 AM, Jan van Eck said:

What you are seeing here is the  next stage in the big Wall Street Property Theft:  the creation of a very small group of people on the Street, roughly 3,000, who end up owning the entire country

I know we have moved the housing discussion to another thread, but I just have to ask for clarification on this one...  You speak as if you have some knowledge of these individuals.  Can you give the rest of us a clue so we can better protect ourselves?  I am probably very much off on this one, but being as how the Street is in NYC, its all I've got: does it have anything to do with the [tpypvp;d pg yjr r;fstd pg xopm?

(I'm sure you can figure out the riddle easily enough, but just in the off-chance I'm right, I'd rather avoid bot-searches so as to not end up suicided)

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 minute ago, Epic said:

I know we have moved the housing discussion to another thread, but I just have to ask for clarification on this one...  You speak as if you have some knowledge of these individuals.  Can you give the rest of us a clue so we can better protect ourselves?  I am probably very much off on this one, but being as how the Street is in NYC, its all I've got: does it have anything to do with the [tpypvp;d pg yjr r;fstd pg xopm?

(I'm sure you can figure out the riddle easily enough, but just in the off-chance I'm right, I'd rather avoid bot-searches so as to not end up suicided)

Sorry, cannot; private-message me with the little envelope next to my name.

[Bhimsen Pachawry + 72]

On 9/7/2018 at 12:54 AM, Jan van Eck said:

Rodi, you are not grasping the sequence of events. It does not work like that. 

1.   The Lender is paid.  He gets paid by a contract of insurance.  So he is made whole.  Basically, the same as if the house burned down and he collected on the casualty insurance.

2.   The homeowner continues as the owner on title.  Whether or not HE pays is both irrelevant and immaterial.  The only question is: is the LENDER paid? 

3.   The insurer would (in typical circumstances)  have a claim of subrogation on the loan.  BUT:  the insurance contract was written without subrogation rights.  Those deals simply require a higher premium.. The Street did it that way to avoid having some insurer go in there to claim the property under subrogation and then discover that the Street had faked the documents. 

4.  The net result is that the homeowner's obligations are fully discharged - by the insurer.  He is the owner.  The Lender is paid.  It is now his house (even though he defaulted).  Are you offended by that result?  Well, why? (Other than a Calvinist reflexive response that nobody should get something for nothing.)  

5.   Somebody shows up in Court and sues the homeowner.  That entity is not the Lender, it is not the owner of the debt, it is not the insurer, - hey, who is it?  It is some clown who waves around a photocopy of that Note (never mind it was paid by the insurer) and claims to the Judge:  "I am the Holder of the Note,  He didn't pay.  Give me that house!"    

And the Judge says:  "Are you the Holder of the Note?"  and the lawyer says: "Sure, I am holding it in my sweaty little hand!" 

And the Judge asks the homeowner:  "Did you borrow the money?"  And the homeowner says: "Yup, sure did."  Except, of course, he did not borrow one thin dime from the guys standing in the courtroom waving the note around, but nobody tells the judge that, and the homeowner has no clue. 

And the Judge asks:  "Did you pay it back?" And the homeowner says "No, I did not."  (Never mind that someone else did, on his behalf, so the lender is paid and has no claim, but the Lender is not even before the Court, that guy in court is someone else). 

So the Judge, who is not told that the party in Court has nothing to do with the loan, says:  "Foreclosed!"  

And he hands over that house to some bank that never made the loan, that has no funds at  risk, that did not purchase the loan, that has no risk of loss, and basically is no more than some distant neighbor living eight doors down and around the corner, collecting on that fallen tree in the yard.  Make sense to you?

Now, you ask, how do these Wall Street guys get away with it?  (Aside from controlling the information flow, and forging paperwork, and hiding the truth from the Court) they get away with it because most Americans have precisely the same attitude you have, that is: "Hey you signed, if you don't pay, you don't get to keep that house."   It is a purely Calvinist attitude, and the Street has developed exploiting it to a fine art. Remember, they have zero investment in that loan.  It is piracy, pure and simple.  Check out the video I posted.

You don't seem to understand the point here. The insurer did indeed insure the loan but that loan is not 100% insured Only a part of the loan is insured, not full. Also, the insurance contract may not give the rights to the insurer to recollect from the home owner but it still is obligatory on the bank to recollect the house and then pay back the insurer with any extra money.

For example, a home owner gets $1 million loan and defaults 50% which is $0.5 million. The insurance for that is only $600000 as the insurer is unwilling to take complete risk and a part risk is borne by the banks. Now, the insurer pays the bank $500000 as part of the contract. However, the bank still has to recover the house and then auction it off. Let us say, In the auction, the house fetches $0.7 million. Then the bank is obliged to pay back the insurer the money paid to it ($0.5 million) and then repay the balance to the home-owner ($0.2 million minus any processing charges).

Unlike the blanket insurance which you are expecting, these big ticket insurances tend to be conditional insurances. The insurers must be assured of a thorough recollection efforts and consequent repayment of any proceedings that would occur. If this condition is not put, then the banks will behave in a very lax manner and may not even seize the defaulting property as the money is being lost by insurers.

 

PS: I did not read that the thread of housing has been moved away. Kindly tag me there if you reply. No more housing issue here.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Bhimsen Pachawry

[Bhimsen Pachawry + 72]

On 9/8/2018 at 8:22 PM, Jan van Eck said:

Luck is for the unprepared.  In America, we make our own luck. the process is called "work.'

USA has too much natural resource and too little people. There is no work in that. That can't be said for other countries

On 9/8/2018 at 8:45 PM, jose chalhoub said:

venezuela historically has been open to immigration too much tolerance during the past decades, in extremis i believe, and now venezuelans fleeing the country searching for better ways to live have been treated unfair in my view. I know there's a mixed variety of emigrants from here but at large it has been proved the venezuelan emigration is between the most qualified and academically skilled in the world. Too much hipocrisy in South America regarding Venezuela i think. 

I have a couple of questions regarding Venezuela:

1. Why does Venezuela not use the Ultra heavy oil as coal to liquefy using Fischer-Tropsh process and sell it as diesel or kerosene to the world? That process will enable usage of the heavy oil in a more self-sufficient manner. The current way of importing light crude from other countries, blending it with additives etc are a serious logistical wastage
2. Why Venezuela is not producing its own food? Venezuela is a pretty large country with 1 million sq km area and population of 30 million. The density of population is even less than USA and there should be no problem in having abundant per capita food production as in USA

[Refman + 207]

On 9/13/2018 at 10:31 AM, Bhimsen Pachawry said:

USA has too much natural resource and too little people. There is no work in that. That can't be said for other countries

I have a couple of questions regarding Venezuela:

1. Why does Venezuela not use the Ultra heavy oil as coal to liquefy using Fischer-Tropsh process and sell it as diesel or kerosene to the world? That process will enable usage of the heavy oil in a more self-sufficient manner. The current way of importing light crude from other countries, blending it with additives etc are a serious logistical wastage
2. Why Venezuela is not producing its own food? Venezuela is a pretty large country with 1 million sq km area and population of 30 million. The density of population is even less than USA and there should be no problem in having abundant per capita food production as in USA

1. I imagine it's a cost issue, and is easier to upgrade and process in regular refineries.

2. Because the Government has destroyed that industry. The main cause is fixing the price that goods can be sold at, doesn't take long to go out of business when the price you can sell at is lower than your cost of production. There are also other reasons like seeds being hard to find, fertilizer and pesticides are also almost non existent. Parts for farm equipment, and even basic items like batteries and tires becoming almost impossible to find. Then you have a large portion of the country starving, so they tend to steal out of the fields, or kill your livestock for food. Then there is always outright land confiscation if you don't vote the right way or make too much of a fuss.

This all plays into the hands of the Government, as they want the population dependent on them for food and basic items. 

[Bhimsen Pachawry + 72]

1 hour ago, Refman said:

I imagine it's a cost issue, and is easier to upgrade and process in regular refineries.

The question I asked was because Venezuela is finding it hard to get oil imports. Hence it will be cheaper to use fully indigenous set up to directly convert heavy oil into diesel, kerosene and other petrochemicals for sale.

[Refman + 207]

9 hours ago, Bhimsen Pachawry said:

The question I asked was because Venezuela is finding it hard to get oil imports. Hence it will be cheaper to use fully indigenous set up to directly convert heavy oil into diesel, kerosene and other petrochemicals for sale.

The main reason Venezuela is having a hard time getting oil imports, is because they can no longer get credit. They've stiffed so many people that they now have to pay for cargoes upfront before they are delivered.

Venezuela is broke, because those in power are stealing everything they can get their hands on. There is no money to build new Fischer-Tropsch plants. If they had money they'd just fix the refineries they currently have.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Refman

[Bhimsen Pachawry + 72]

12 hours ago, Refman said:

The main reason Venezuela is having a hard time getting oil imports, is because they can no longer get credit. They've stiffed so many people that they now have to pay for cargoes upfront before they are delivered.

Venezuela is broke, because those in power are stealing everything they can get their hands on. There is no money to build new Fischer-Tropsch plants. If they had money they'd just fix the refineries they currently have.

Can't Venezuela have something like voluntary labour to fix the existing infrastructure? They have the technology and people. Voluntary labour seems to be the best way to go

[Refman + 207]

5 hours ago, Bhimsen Pachawry said:

Can't Venezuela have something like voluntary labour to fix the existing infrastructure? They have the technology and people. Voluntary labour seems to be the best way to go

Labor is already essentially free, with many making the equivalent of a couple of dollars per month, so even if people volunteered it would make little difference. Workers at PDVSA are literally quitting their jobs because the cost to travel to work is higher than their salaries. One of the reasons many stayed as long as they did was for the company cafeterias where they got free food, now even those are closed. There is little incentive to stay and work.

The main problem is that Chavez (and now Maduro) started siphoning off money from PDVSA as soon as he took power. There has been virtually no maintenance done on oil infrastructure since 2000. You can put off maintenance for a couple of years when times are hard, but doing it for 18 years is asking for trouble. Now people are so desperate they are stealing wiring and other parts from the oil wells and refineries, so that they can sell them for scrap in order to buy food.

As far as I can see it, there are only three ways ways out of this.

1. Venezuela becomes another Cuba, which seems to be Maduro's goal. Where the people are totally dependent on the Government for food, water, power and medicine. If you don't cooperate then you are thrown in jail.

2. The army overthrows Maduro and hopefully returns the country to some kind of normalcy.

3. Time for another revolution.

 

Here are some of the latest consequences from Maduro's latest ideas

http://www.fltimes.com/tns/international/maduro-s-huge-salary-increases-force-percent-of-venezuelan-stores/article_c1492765-34d4-55dc-87bb-ec97b8abe142.html

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Refman