US Stocks Gain On Report Of Pending Home Sales . . . Pending Home Sales Rise the Most in Over Seven Years . . . Consumer Confidence Spurs Broad Gain . . .

You see the same bullshit headlines churned out everywhere you turn. Yes sir, we’re supposed to believe the recession is over, recovery is underway and prosperity is just around the corner. We need to go out and fulfill our patriotic duty, which means buying things, preferably houses. That’s what smart investors would do, we’re told. And judging by the polls, Americans are starting to believe it. (more…)

Last weekend, I took a drive up to Stockton to scope out a place I could call home for the next few months. My demands were very simple: I wanted to rent a house in a foreclosure nightmare, one of those brand new McMansion neighborhoods that have sprouted from cabbage patches and rocky desert landscapes all across the country in the past few years. (more…)

Juan Jose Luna was an early contender for to the “Class War Hero” category. Judging by the mug shot, the Ivy Leaguers would have nothing to do with him, but he was smart enough to see the crash coming way before anyone else did and took no time deciding to do something about it, too. His plan was simple:  burn down his foreclosed home and collect fire insurance.  All this was back in the summer of 2007. But the plan backfired, literally. (more…)