Goatman328

I would try to explain, but I doubt that mass of malfunctioning neurological deadweight and fermented cheese that constitutes your brain would be able to comprehend the meaning. I doubt the previous sentence even registered properly.

Elvira

There is no need to be rude!!

Having said that, apart from the fact that, IMHO, a reigning in of house prices is a Very Good Thing, the news is of course deeply worrying - not just for those who read the WSJ. This is what the Guardian has to say on the issue:

"US central bank the Federal Reserve tonight cut its key interest rate for the first time in four years as it sought to calm jittery global financial markets and prevent the world's biggest economy from sliding into recession.
Amid growing fears that the malaise in the US housing market could spread to the rest of the economy, the central bank tonight dramatically abandoned its hard-line stance against inflation to boost growth."

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2171964,00.html

Of course all this mess is already affecting the UK economy as well. Not surprisingly, all talk of a 'surprise' autumn election has now evaporated, and Gordon's honeymoon is clearly over.

dunroving

I think you walked into the wrong bar, mate.

Fleaflyfloflum

Awwww feel for him DR.

Maybe this goat is standing on a loose Northern Rock about to slide off the cliff. He's suffering from stress. You are his outlet.

Scout

Actually he's spot on about the dollar falling even more......and if the Fed cuts rates again.........it's not going to be pretty.

The upside of the cut is that the housing market may pick up in the States and house sales may begin to move again a bit instead of remaining stagnant. people moving to the UK from the US need to sell their US houses when they move and they can't sell them if no one is buying. Of course when it comes time to transfer their dollars back to the UK......it won't be a pretty sight.

Dunroving, not everyone in the BTL field is posh ya know. My husband is from a working class background and he had several BTL properties here in the UK before he moved to the States. He wasn't all that lucky with his timing either........his mother died, he inheritied a house and a small bit of money and invested it wisely. ............when we married he sold them to move to the States and invest over there...........and not a particularly great profit either..........but if he had kept them here he would to have put them with a property manager and where we are they are not that great at managing much of anything.

krizzy

Well thats us living in our car under a bridge in New York....

dunroving

- I've been watching the news, and believe me I definitely am aware of the consequences for the dollar (as mine are still sitting there after 12 months, waiting to be converted to GBP, you could say I have my finger on the pulse). I merely think Mr/Mrs Goat is simply repeating sound bites from some blog - after all, his/her summation of the McCann case was "They did it" and "They're guilty". Not exactly a reasoned, intelligent analysis of the situation.

- I don't think I said that everyone in the BTL field is posh, but a certain sector of BTL ownership (I think I referred to them as the fat cats) has been snatching up houses and apartments off-plan, often at considerable discount to the regular person who is looking for somewhere to call home. I think the BTL business has got out of hand and is partly responsible for driving up demand and therefore prices. In some areas around here they have introduced legal covenants to prevent the purchase of homes by people (a) who don't live locally and (b) do not intend to live in the house. There was a good article in the Times a while back about the dangers of looking at houses as an investment/pension fund: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle2195714.ece

[Just checked that link and it no longer works, sorry. I'll try to see if it's been archived and post the new link]

dunroving

I think the article has been removed from the Times site.

Not the same article, but same writer (Matthew Parris) and somewhat similar topic:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle2195714.ece

Scout

I wish I could tell you it will improve soon, but since I have been watching the dollar/pound since 2001..........it has only continued to get worse. Cross your fingers that a Democrat with some sense gets elected as President next year and the dollar begins to strengthen. I don't see anything good happening to the dollar until at least Bush is gone that's for sure.

I don't follow Mr Goat's posts so I wasn't privy to his summation of the McCann case.....you didn't ask.......but IMHO regarding the McCann's....I don't know if they are guilty or not.......a lot of things on that case do not add up ............but I do think parents, expecially parents who are Doctors should have more sense than to leave 3 children alone while they have dinner in a restaurant (and I don't care that it was close by either) ....If they had been working class they NEVER would have been given the royal treatment by the Press and others that they have been given.

Danny B

It's only a 10% chance http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7000598.stm

Sally

We're all doomed!

dunroving

I refer back to this site now and again: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txt - it's interesting to see some of the wild swings over the years. As you rightly say, for the last few years it's looked steadily worse for the dollar. I don't have high hopes for a healthy dollar in the near future.

The McCann's case raises so many parenting issues that raise healthy debate not just about missing children but the way middle class people get treated in such situations compared to others. Unfortunately, they are now paying the price for capitalizing on the media interest by undergoing a trial of public opinion in the press and other media.

As for the Goat, anyone who comes on here and within 7 posts says the McCann's are guilty as sin and the world economy is going to Hell in a handbasket can't possibly expect people to take him seriously.

Mercedes

Interesting that for approx 22/23 years both were considered working class, both from humble roots. When they got their degree and became doctors they suddenly became middle class, so they haven't been middle class for that long.

britishvixen21

LOL I think he brought shares in NR!!!

Scout

They have been middle class long enough to travel the world, earn Doctorate Degrees in Cardiology and Anesthesiology, get a Media Advisor and top notch legal representation, savvy enough to attract Branson to shell out mega pounds to their press campaign, sophisticated enough to play the world press like a priceless violin, visit with the pope, etc.

I know the argument at this point seems trite, but if Madeline had been a child of a housewife and a plasterer who went out to dinner and left her alone I don't think the same treatment would have been afforded the parents in the world press or even more so the British Press.