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A few people even got the timing right. We knew the toxic derivatives were in most banking and pension portfolios in the US. We were unaware how far they'd infected foreign banks and governments.

It's going to happen again. Nothing was done to prevent it.

Housing prices here in Houston are climbing at a higher rate than they were in 2006. Now that oil prices are down to less than $40 a barrel, we're having layoffs and layoffs mean foreclosures. But mortgage interest rates are expected to climb to 5.4% in the next 2 years. So, to buy or not to buy, that is the question.

If rents are rising, buy as a hedge against rising rents.

I was in the latter position when I bought in 1996 and rent exceeded my PITI within 2 years, so it worked out.

Houston is a tough market, almost as bad as Florida for boom and bust cycles. If you want a house as an investment, look elsehwere. There are investments that provide a larger bang for the buck than boom and bust housing and you don't have to do things like shell out thousands for new roofs and heating systems for them.

I'll be 59 next month. I'm just now making as much now as I did in 2003. I blew through what little retirement savings I had during periods of unemployment and disability, so I'm not really planning on retiring until I just can't work anymore, hopefully not before 70 so I can maximize my SS. I'm a bookkeeper with a permanent job with flexible hours, plus a couple of private accounts on the side. I hope to add a few more on the side to maximize my income and my flexibility. I don't want to work as a Walmart greeter when I'm 75.

As much as I would like the low maintenance lifestyle of a condo/townhome, they just do not hold their value in Houston unless you buy something really high end and I can't afford that. The maintenance fees in the nicer complexes can cost $400+ per month. I've seen some as high as $700.

So hopefully, I hoping to find something I can pay off by the time I'm 70ish. Then I'll just have property taxes and maintenance. And hopefully it won't be too far from work. I'm stuck where I work for a couple of years at least. In the meantime, I like the apartment complex I'm in. It's older, but well maintained, in a low crime area and only a 15 to 20 minute drive to work.

I plan on going to the movies this week to watch "The Big Short".
A movie about credit default swaps that's getting great reviews. Wow!

and it's probably not an exaggeration. He is brilliant.

The opening chapter of his book, Liar's poker, reads like a Spaghetti Western. Brilliant. For that scene, it might be an idea to have a narrator, like a Greek chorus, explaining in hushed tones, who's who and what's going on.

VERY GOOD, pt 3 is meh. my e-pal sent me the book and i was yelling & making notes in the margin. i recommend it to MAINLY republicans. written by a republican. heck, i said it was a bubble on my blog around 2004.