Opening Comments
Picture of the Day
Font You Very Much
Quick Bites
Markets, Tech Sell Off, Jobs Report
Munger Market Views, Missed Cancer Screenings
Private Jet Travel, Biden 2007 Video on Afghanistan
NYC Crime, Beverly Hills Murder, Good China Article
Fitness Guru-30 Days of KFC, $35mm/day, but No
Other Headlines-Big Section today and Chris Cuomo is in it
Virus/Vaccine
Data-Moving in the Wrong Direction-Good Charts
CNBC Doctor on Omicron Spread
New Hampshire Record Cases
Virus Origin
Omicron Impact on Young in South Africa
Real Estate
My General Comments-High End Palm Beach Island
R/E in the Metaverse
Austin, TX
Federal R/E Programs are Expiring
Opening Comments
Omicron is spreading in the US. Cases have been uncovered in NY, Minnesota, Colorado, California, New Jersey, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Utah, Maryland, and Hawaii. I am sure it will spread everywhere, but again, I have not seen many troubling reports of very bad reactions. However, I did see one report which suggested Omicron is spreading faster than any other variant had in South Africa. Cases in South Africa have quadrupled in 4 days from 4k to 16k/day. It is early, but would have thought we would see more significant adverse reactions if it were bad.
I received a hat sent to my home which reads, “Its Transitory” on it. I presume a reader sent it, but it is unclear who. Thank you. I love it and wore it a bit this weekend. For months, I have been challenging the Fed’s commentary about inflation being transitory. Please let me know who sent it so I can send a proper thank you.
I drove down to Miami Thursday am to have breakfast prior to my Art Basel and Art Miami shows. I had a great time with a long-time friend and reader, Steve. It was nice to catch up with him and while we were wrapping up a man at a table nearby told me I look familiar. We start speaking and the person he was with asked if I write a blog and it turns out he too is a Rosen Report reader. It is indeed a small world. These interactions are happening more frequently, including on a plane recently.
I went to the Breakers this weekend for my mother-in-law’s birthday party celebration. Happy Birthday, Nan! The Breakers was packed, especially for a weekend which was not a holiday. Multiple large wedding parties contributed to the crowds. I am not sure how it is humanly possible for this many people to afford a $2,000/night room which cannot be 400 square feet, but so be it. This room is sold out over Christmas, but is $4,400/night on January 1st. Free money from central banks strikes again. Lunch for two was $120 (nachos, one sushi roll and a salad, with no drinks). What? The property is very well maintained and service is quite good, but way overpriced in my book, especially the food.
Picture of the Day
I went to Art Basel and Art Miami on Thursday and it was chaos. I have written that living in Miami would be hard for me, as I lived in downtown Chicago and NYC and just cannot handle the traffic and congestion at this point in my life. I know it is a particularly crowded week, but three weeks ago I was in Miami and it too was a chaotic disaster as well. I parked and took Uber or Lyft everywhere, and the prices were double normal rates; it took 30 minutes to go 3 miles. Also note that the likelihood of getting a driver who speaks English is roughly akin to winning Powerball. I was surprised proof of vaccination or negative test was required for entry to all the shows I attended.
I met a reader, Kari, at Basel and we looked a bunch of art together. Art Basel had some good works, but overpriced. We had a great time and saw many solid works by various artists. Art Miami is more reasonable, but this is the first piece of art you see when you walk into the room. Another reader, Valarie, met me at Art Miami.
I went to the gallery owner and gave him crap. I said, “This is the single most distributing and ugly work I have ever seen. If you find someone dumb enough to buy this at any price, I have a substantial collection of real art to sell them for 10 times what it is worth.” The owner responded, “Yes, this has received quite a few strong comments and yes, it is an acquired taste. You did come to my booth because of it, so the piece did something.”
What person finds this good and would hang it on the house? If you are that person, please unsubscribe from the Rosen Report, as you are likely a serial killer. This is a traumatizing piece. Please look closely if you can. If you turn to stone, my apologies. Clearly, this artist had a troubled childhood. Oh yes, this can be yours for the low price of $75,000. Yes, US Dollars. If you paid me, I could not hang this on my wall. I just cannot un-see this horrific crap. It is not art, but I do not have a name I can call it on the family oriented, Rosen Report.
Font You Very Much
I wrote a Rosen Report on my font size about a year ago and had forgotten about it until last week. I had a few separate incidents of being made fun of in a week relating to the font size on my phone and felt compelled to write about it. The irony is, I was giving my wife crap for needing reader glasses for about 5 years and then, I needed them and found it less funny. My font size started increasing and now it is to the point of being at Mr. Magoo levels.
Mr. Magoo was a cartoon character with poor eyesight who was voiced by Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III) on Gilligan’s Island.
I went to the hardware store and put my phone down on the counter to pay and the cashier made a comment. She was at least 65 years old and said, “I have never seen anyone with a bigger font on their phone than mine. Everyone makes fun of me for it. You must take a lot of flack for a font which can be read from across the room.” At this point, I almost did not want to buy my overpriced screws after being ridiculed by the lady likely 15 years my senior, but I just started laughing that she called me out.
The next incident two days later was at the Dave Koz concert. I met Koz at my friend’s house Wednesday afternoon and found him to be funny and when I went to the show I realized just how talented as well. Koz sure can play a saxophone and at times was able to play for an uncomfortably long time without taking a breath. It is clear to me that I would have passed out long before he stopped. At the show, I was sitting next to my friend and his wife, Lisa, was on the other side of him. I received a text prior to the show and looked at my phone. Lisa loudly said, “Oh my God, that is the biggest font I have ever seen. Are you serious right now? People can read your phone from across the concert hall. You better not type anything inappropriate or everyone in the concert hall will know. This is a joke, right?” She continued to make fun of me for a solid five minutes. I was humiliated by a 65+ year old and then a 35-year-old in the same week. Tough crowd. It gets better.
I was driving home as my friends went backstage. I found that I-95 was closed, so I called them to let them know they should take an alternate route. The phone was on speaker and Lisa continued to heckle me about my font size and let me know it was bigger than the font of her parents. I texted Lisa to tell her she will be in my next piece and the ridicule continued by calling me old in various ways and making fun of my stupid font size. I know Lisa’s parents (Dustan & Joni) and thought they would have done a better job of teaching her to respect elders as they are lovely people.
This font issue is really hurting my street cred. Sunday at lunch, my niece said, “Uncle Eric, your font is like Nanny’s font.” I grabbed my mother-in-laws phone and checked. My font is actually 25% larger than hers!
I don’t like to wear readers in public. What is worse? Wearing old man readers or a 72-point font? From the initial feedback, it looks like I lose either way. I took a picture of my font setting. It is at about 93% of what the largest font could be. Font you very much, Lisa.
Quick Bites
In last Sunday’s note I suggested we would see increased volatility this week in both directions and the VIX ended +20% on the week at just under 31. The VIX is +35% YTD. Stocks dropped on Friday, after a disappointing November jobs report, as the market wrapped up a roller-coaster week driven by Covid omicron variant concerns. The Dow fell 60 points to 34,580, dragged down by a 1.9% loss in Boeing. The 30-stock index was down more than 300 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8% to 4,538. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.9% to 15,085. The major averages posted a losing week. Despite a rebound on Thursday that saw the Dow rise more than 600 points, the 30-stock average dropped 0.9% for the week. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, and the Nasdaq lost 2.6% this week. The 10-Year Treasury is at 1.35%. Nat gas is down 25% since 11/26 and is at $4.09 given warmer than expected temperatures. Crypto was slammed with Bitcoin, Ether and others down 10%+. Bitcoin was as low as $43k and Ether went to $3,500 at one point. Solana went from $240 down to $189 at one point as well. Crypto rallied off the lows. I bought more crypto on weakness. One of my investing heroes is Barry Sternlicht and he has 2-3% of his net worth in crypto now. I continue to contend Powell’s hawkish comments on reducing bond purchases faster than planned was the biggest news of the week which is pressuring markets.
I feel the price action in some of the high-flying tech names was interesting as stay-at home-stocks were crushed despite Omicron. Given new Omicron fears, I would have thought the stay-at-home stocks would not have been crushed. It seems to me, the market is suggesting there is an expectation of getting back to normal. As markets tumbled this week on news of the Covid omicron variant and on inflation concerns, some of the worst performers were stay-at-home stocks. DocuSign, Etsy, DoorDash and Zoom all tumbled, while HP, Apple and Cisco saw gains. The sharp selloff suggests investors are betting that, no matter what happens with omicron, the U.S. is done with the shutdowns that boosted food delivery and streaming TV services while forcing people to collaborate remotely for work and chat endlessly by video with friends and family members. Shares of pandemic darling Zoom slumped 16.5% for the week, hitting a new 52-week low on Dec. 3 of $177 a share, a 69% drop from its record high in October 2020. Shares of online marketplace Etsy, which became a haven for mask buyers early in the pandemic, fell 21% for the week, while food delivery service DoorDash slumped 16%, Roku dropped 13%, Shopify slid 11% and Netflix fell 10%. Shares of e-signature software maker DocuSign fell 42% Friday.
Despite a weak headline number, I felt the overall report not as bad as first glance. Finally, the participation rate ticked up slightly, for example. US employers added another 210,000 jobs to the economy in November, far fewer than expected, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. It was the smallest number of jobs added to the US economy since December 2020, when the economy actually shed jobs amid a surge in Covid cases. Beyond the headline number, Friday's report did include several pieces of good news. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, a new pandemic-era low. And America's labor force participation rate, which has remained relatively depressed throughout the recovery, edged up to 61.8%, the highest level since March 2020. While Friday's main number was decidedly disappointing at first glance, the US economy has added more than 1 million jobs over the past three months, signaling that the recovery continues to move along.
This Bloomberg article outlines Munger’s views on the market and he is clearly in the overvalued camp. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Charlie Munger told a conference Friday that markets are wildly overvalued in places and that the current environment is “even crazier” than the dotcom boom of the late 1990s that subsequently led to a bust. “I consider this era an even crazier era than the dotcom era,” Munger, 97, said at the Sohn conference in Sydney, The Australian Financial Review reported. Munger also reiterates his dislike of the crytpto space and praised China for banning it. I think he is misinformed on crytpo despite being a legendary investor over decades.
I have often written about unintended consequences of lockdowns and ramifications of COVID-19. I personally am long overdue for a colonoscopy and my mother died of colon cancer. I am scheduled for mid-December, almost two years late due to pandemic related delays coupled with my inability to get an appointment. Up to 740,000 potential cancer cases that should have been urgently referred by GPs have been “missed” since the first lockdown, according to a damning report. Watchdogs also warned that NHS waiting lists could keep growing until 2025 and even reach double the current six million. Charities said the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) reflected a “devastating” situation for many patients, with medics warning of “the biggest cancer catastrophe ever to hit the NHS.” The NAO estimates that between 7.6 million and 9.1 million fewer referrals for treatment were made during the pandemic, because of difficulties accessing care and fears of catching the virus.
I enjoyed this WSJ article on private jet travel and all the private plane brokers I know are going crazy with demand. Business-jet traffic is now up a whopping 45% world-wide relative to the start of 2019, compared with a 24% drop in commercial traffic, according to tracker FlightAware, even though corporate travel hasn’t yet recovered. The demand has come from rich people—many of whom had never used a private plane—living in more remote locations and avoiding commercial airports for vacations, jet brokers say.
After a long period of stagnation since 2008, private-aircraft makers’ order backlogs are swelling, and used-jet inventories are at record lows. While manufacturers have so far been prudent about increasing production, industry executives are becoming convinced that the boom will persist beyond the pandemic, and believe many medium-size firms will also embrace private jets. Broker Jetcraft forecast in a report this week that annual transactions for secondhand aircraft will reach $12.4 billion in 2025, versus $9.8 billion in 2019.
A reader sent me this 2007 video of Biden discussing how to end the war in Afghanistan. It is 47 seconds in length and he discusses the consequences of leaving behind weapons and the impact on future generations. I guess Biden did not heed his own advice. Taliban fighters reaped almost 2,000 Humvees and trucks; more than 50 armored fighting vehicles, including Mine-Resistant Ambush Protection vehicles, or MRAPs; scores of artillery and mortar pieces; more than a dozen aging but working helicopters and attack aircraft; a dozen tanks; seven Boeing-manufactured drones; and millions upon millions of bullets, according to a list compiled by the Oryx Blog, which tracks weapons used in conflicts. This link suggests even more was left behind and includes pictures. I would also note Biden’s engagement in the video and his presentation 14 years ago relative to today. To me, he seems like a different person, as he has aged so much and is far less cohesive in his presentation today.
I am not sure how many examples of ineptitude I need to give to prove that DeBlasio will go down in history as the worst mayor of all time, but here is yet another. I lived in NYC for over 20 years and loved it for 15 years and started realizing NYC was no longer giving me what I wanted or needed at this stage of my life. I cannot imagine living in a city where my employer tells me to be careful about what I wear to work for fear of being attacked. We have seen what happens in cities who are not tough on crime (NYC, Chicago, SFO, LA, Portland, Seattle, Baltimore, Minneapolis…). Let’s hope Eric Adams has different policies and improves the crime situation in a hurry. Amid a surge in some New York City violent crime, Wall Street bigwigs continue to encourage younger staffers to come into the office — but to do so with caution. At Bank of America, senior executives have quietly encouraged younger employees to “dress down” to attract less attention as they make their way to B of A’s tower at 1 Bryant Park.
Separately, a graduate student was killed and a student from Italy was injured in stabbings just minutes apart near Morningside Park Thursday night. Vincent Pinkney, 25, was awaiting arraignment on a slew of charges, including murder and attempted murder, for Thursday night’s bloodshed in Morningside Park. Pinkey was on “supervised release” for beating a man and slashing his face. Clearly, another bad call to let this violent gang member out of prison. He was also released after four years in 2018 for a gang assault in Queens. DeBlasio, your legacy is being the worst of the worst. Congrats. How many more lives will be lost or people injured due to being soft on crime and allowing hardened criminals to roam free? Many believe you are the single best real estate broker in South Florida given your policies are pushing people out. You cannot charge $500 for a meal and serve Taco Bell. NYC charges full boat and gives crap service filled with crime, homelessness, filth, pot smoking in the streets and yet charges a premium. I am adamantly opposed to bail reform for violent offenders.
The altercation between the two men broke out at around 3:20 p.m. on the northbound platform of the 49th Street station, which serves the N and R trains, an MTA spokesperson said.
In yet another example of not being tough enough on criminals. The Beverly Hills Police Department said Maynor was on parole at the time of the slaying and has an “extensive criminal history.” Beverly Hills investigators have identified Los Angeles resident Aariel Maynor, 29, as a suspect seen in multiple surveillance videos, including city cameras, heading eastbound out of Beverly Hills shortly after 81-year-old Jacqueline Avant was shot, Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook told reporters during a news conference Thursday. Maynor accidentally shot himself in the foot while in the process of another burglary, Stainbrook said. This article is entitled, “Brutal, brazen crimes shake LA, leaving the city at a crossroads, which is about as self-explanatory as it can be. It seems as though the horrific crimes are getting the attention of politicians and DA’s who are starting to rethink these horrible new reforms which are clearly not working.
A reader, Munroe, sent me this fascinating article on a powerful man named Wang Huning who has the ear of President Xi Jinping in China. According to the article, “Wang Huning is arguably the single most influential “public intellectual” alive today.” A member of the CCP’s seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, he is China’s top ideological theorist, quietly credited as being the “ideas man” behind each of Xi’s signature political concepts, including the “China Dream,” the anti-corruption campaign, the Belt and Road Initiative, a more assertive foreign policy, and even “Xi Jinping Thought.” Scrutinize any photograph of Xi on an important trip or at a key meeting and one is likely to spot Wang there in the background, never far from the leader’s side. If you want to learn more about China policies and some of the scary things going on there, the article is a good one.
An Australian fitness guru ate nothing but KFC for one month and in addition to gaining appropriately 18 lbs, he felt the bigger impact was to his brain. Can you tell the difference between before and after? I cannot eat fried food at this stage of my life. I feel like death if I have a bite of it.
Let me be crystal clear with my readers or any potential sponsors about hiring me for the day. Clooney turned down $35mm for one day’s work according to the attached article. I am available for a tiny fraction of that number and I have much better hair than Clooney could ever imagine. The “Ocean’s Eleven” actor, 60, revealed he once refused $35 million for just one day of work on an airline ad. Clooney was asked by the Guardian about his upcoming film “The Tender Bar” and whether he thinks he has “enough money now.” “Well, yeah. I was offered $35 million for one day’s work for an airline commercial, but I talked to my wife about it and we decided it’s not worth it,” the director said. It was [associated with] a country that, although it’s an ally, is questionable at times,” Clooney said. “And so I thought: ‘Well, if it takes a minute’s sleep away from me, it’s not worth it.’ I thought Clooney’s wife did a bunch of charity work. You are telling me that making $35mm for one day would not go a long way with charities? Clooney sells his movies in China and I don’t hear him complaining about being paid from a country who believes in child labor and other bad acts including killing millions of people with a virus. George, work for a few hours and give it away to those less fortunate. These stars have absolutely lost their minds. Average US income of $67k means Clooney would have made 522 times that amount for a few hours work. He would make $3mm/hr, yet it is “not worth it.” For perspective, I read it is approximately $10,000/year to feed a family of four who is in need. The $35mm could have fed approximately 3,500 families for a year. George, I hope you are not a Rosen Report Reader as I feel your comments are moronic, especially from someone claiming to be so charitable and has no qualms about your movies being sold in China. Next time, accept the role, say thank you to the idiot who paid you so much, and donate it to a good cause like funding world hunger, homelessness, education, cancer research, the environment or some other cause like funding the Rosen Report. Below is George and Amal Clooney and below them is me and wife, Jill taken by a photographer at a party in NYC. Come, on. If Clooney is worth $35mm/day, clearly, someone should pay me 10% for my good hair.
Other Headlines
Fed’s inflation pivot could be catastrophic for stocks, fund manager says
Inflation Causing Hardship for 45% of U.S. Households
The poll suggests lower incomes and less educated Americans are most impacted.
WOMAN BAFFLES TIKTOK AFTER REVEALING THE ‘WILD’ GROCERY PRICES IN RURAL ALASKA
The story suggests $18 milk and $9 Doritos
Didi Hunts for Way to Delist in New York, Rocking Other Chinese ADRs
I believe Roger Federer owns 3% of On.
Bob Dole, giant of the Senate and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, dies
DeSantis proposes civilian Florida State Guard military force he would control
DAs, retailers say California needs tougher retail theft law
"We cannot function as a society where we have told people over and over again that there is no consequence for stealing other people’s property," said Vern Pierson, immediate past president of the California District Attorneys Association and El Dorado County's district attorney.
Parents of alleged Michigan school shooter arrested after manhunt
The rescue of Parwana: 9-year-old child bride is taken to safety in Afghanistan
Alec Baldwin exclusive: 'The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger'
I am not sure why Baldwin felt the need to get on TV about the shooting. Personally, I do not like the decision and feel it could hurt him later.
Chris Cuomo fired from CNN over involvement with brother Andrew’s scandals
Likely the right answer and the fact the decision happened quickly suggests to me they have a lot of evidence against him. It came out that there was an implication of sexual misconduct from a former co-worker which seems to be the straw that broken the camel’s back. Two disgraced brothers now.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘degrading’ list of staff rules revealed in court
We all knew these people are sickos, but this is next level stuff
Rare blizzard warning in Hawaii, up to 12 inches of snow expected
Virus/Vaccine
The uptick in cases in the US is largely driven by Delta despite a handful of states reporting first cases of Omicron. Unfortunately, the data has taken a turn for the worse with cases, hospitalizations and deaths increasing. Cases grew 19% for the two-week period and are now at 108k/day after dropping to as low as 70k cases in late October. Hospitalizations were +18% to 59k after a recent low of 47k. With respect to deaths, after a period of improvement, deaths grew by 5% and total just under 1.2k/day. I wonder if Thanksgiving travel and gatherings are contributing to the recent spike. The second chart shows every region is now on the uptick in terms of cases. This was not the case a week ago. The last chart shows cases across the country.
In 2020, approximately 385k people died in the US of COVID-19. In 2021, approximately 398k people have died and there are 25 days left in the year. The year 2021 should end with approximately $425-435k deaths. I never blamed COVID on Trump and do not blame Biden. However, the media and Biden were eviscerating Trump on the subject. Now, even with the vaccine roll out, the death toll is higher than in 2020 and no consequences for China on the horizon. How come MSNBC, CNN and every other media outlet is not all over Biden for the deaths the way they were for Trump?
Case chart below
New vaccines targeting omicron are a “nice idea” but won’t be practical because of the transmissibility of the strain, he said. Experts don’t know exactly how contagious the highly-mutated omicron variant is, but the virus’ spike protein — which binds to human cells — has mutations associated with higher transmission and a decrease in antibody protection.
There are currently 8,251 active coronavirus cases in the state of New Hampshire, the highest it has had at any point in the pandemic. Nearly 400 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness. Every one of New Hampshire’s counties is seeing high transmission, according to the CDC map. The CDC says 73.5% of New Hampshire eligible population is fully vaccinated. In the US in total, only 59% of the population is fully vaccinated. The average cases were 16/day in June and today, they are approaching 1,100. The previous peak was 868 in December 2020. A loyal reader, Jean, lives in NH. Be safe!
My readers know I have been steadfast in my view of the origins of the Wuhan Virus. I am no scientist, but yet another article suggesting the mutations around Omicron are also pointing to the theory that the virus was manipulated. With no repercussions for China, this is the largest murder and global disruption example I can think of with no consequence. The emergence of the omicron strain of COVID-19 is raising new questions about the still undetermined origin of the coronavirus outbreak and whether it leaked from a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan in 2019. Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the virus mutations in the omicron variant indicate an unusual, rapid evolution. The mutations are “very different” from earlier virus offshoots, although some of the mutations can be found in the delta variant and are linked to increased transmissibility and immune evasion, he said. “There’s a very unusual constellation of changes across the SARS-CoV-2 genome, with greater than 30 of them in the important spike protein which is the business end of the virus, particularly in its receptor-binding domain where there are about 10 mutations there,” Dr. Fauci told reporters on Tuesday. SARS-CoV-2 is the formal name of the virus that causes COVID-19. The large number of mutations is raising new concerns about whether the virus was laboratory-derived or spread naturally from infected animals. An article from August in the journal Lancet Microbe states: “The presence of a furin cleavage motif at the SARS-CoV-2 S1–S2 interface is therefore highly unusual, leading to the smoking-gun hypothesis of manipulation that has recently gained considerable attention as a possible origin” of COVID-19.
The last Rosen Report had a section about Omicron and the impact on young children being increasingly hospitalized in South Africa. This story suggests the same concept. The “highly transmissible” Omicron variant of coronavirus ripping through South Africa is putting disproportionately large numbers of children under 5 years old in hospitals, a top South African government medical adviser said Friday. “The incidence in those under 5 is now second highest, second only to those over 60,” according to a South African government adviser.
Real Estate
My quick comments are going to be around the Palm Beach Island market. I spoke with a developer and looked at some homes with him today on Palm Beach Island. I am in shock at the prices he is telling me and I follow these markets closely. I saw one house on Ocean Avenue and suggested it was $45mm and quickly corrected me and told me it would be $65mm. The high end is on fire. He told me of a 1/2 acre plot of land which sold for $20mm and resold in 9 months for $40mm for vacant land on the ocean. He also spoke of a .6 acre lot which traded for $7.5mm three years ago which would be worth $25mm today.
One thing which was surprising was building costs. I feel in my community, $700-800 would be ultra high end cost to build out. He is telling me it is $1,200-1,400 for the ultra high end homes which are selling for $40-75mm+ on the island. This is finished product and furnished as well. Supply chain disruptions are real. He is waiting two years for a certain stone to finish a job. He also reiterated that many homes at the high end are trading off-line meaning it sells without formally hitting the market. He showed me quite a few homes which would sell for over $100mm. I will tell you that I believe Palm Beach Island is beautiful and meticulously maintained. There are countless estates which are stunning, but the prices are just to expensive. I suppose if you have $1bn or more, who cares, but the nicest homes on the island are just too pricey for me.
I went out to dinner at Triveni in Palm beach and it made Boca seem young and that is hard to do. The average age of tables was in the 70s and many were in the 80s. The food was actually pretty good, but the age of the patrons was a bit disappointing.
This Fortune article on virtual land is frustrating to me. I am missing this boat. I am getting up to speed on some aspects, but not sure I will ever grasp this one. While prices for physical real estate have skyrocketed over the past year, the price of digital land online has also boomed as interest in the “metaverse” picks up. The metaverse refers to a handful of platforms—including the Sandbox, Decentraland, Mirandus, and Axie Infinity—that are creating an interactive version of the internet where users can play games, explore virtual worlds, and even do business. Facebook popularized the term when it rebranded as “Meta,” and signaled its intention to create an immersive virtual world where people can “get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create…”
This RealDeal article is about Austin, TX high end residential real estate and suggests prices are up 33% in a year. More large companies moving headquarters to Austin or at least increasing presence (Tesla, Apple, Oracle) for all the obvious reasons.
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could soon lose or sell their homes as Covid-related mortgage bailout programs expire. The federal government, big banks and mortgage servicers started emergency programs when the pandemic hit early last year, shutting down vast swaths of the economy. The bailouts allowed millions of homeowners to miss payments, some for up to 18 months. “We’re in the midst of the largest transition out of forbearance we’re likely to see, with three-quarters of a million homeowners leaving plans over the past 60 days,” said Andy Walden, vice president of market research for Black Knight. Although I appreciate the government assisting many who needed help, I feel the banks and landlords were hurt by these rules. I feel it is time for these assistance programs to come to an end and get people back to work.