The Sh*t L*st

While home prices are dangerously high in hot markets, rents are generally a screaming bargain. The disconnect between prices and rents carries two strong messages, especially for folks planning to retire in a few years. First, prices can?t keep soaring while rents stay flat. The rent?what you?d pay to live in the house?is the fundamental factor driving its value, just as earnings growth guides stock prices. Booming prices and depressed rents are an unstable, unsustainable combination, a flashing red alert that we?re in a bubble. Second, you can grab a peak or near-peak price on your house, then rent a similar one for as little as half the cost of owning it (even after factoring in the tax benefits of ownership).

<div class="post-body">
<p><div style="clear:both;"></div>

Upgrading to NAV 2005 is amazingly frustrating.

1. It could be a lot more seamlessly integrated with my current
installation.

2. It's painfully slow at 20kb/s

3. I've downloaded it twice and both times when I try to install, I get
an error saying that there are corrupt files and I need to reinstall.

I've wasted over an hour on this now. What I would like to do is cancel
my upgrade, refund the $5 difference, and simply renew the subscription
on my existing version. If you cannot do that, please cancel my order
altogether and I'll find another service.

Thanks,
Tomo

Subject: Your message has been received! (KMM22703545V38705L0KM)

**************Please do not reply to this message!**************
***************Replies are automatically deleted!***************

Hello,

This email is confirming your message was received by the online store's
Customer Care Center. However, due to possible objectionable language or
material, the message was automatically removed from our system. If you
feel this was done in error, we apologize.

Please re-send your message without the possible objectionable language
or materials at your earliest convenience. We will then be able to
assist you with your issue.

Sincerely,

Customer Care Center
Case ID 9858774

**************Please do not reply to this message!**************
***************Replies are automatically deleted!***************

The current level of hype about real estate bears a worrisome resemblance to the dot.com bubble of the late nineties. Financial companies tout no-money-down interest-only loans as a way of extending speculators' purchasing power, and developers pitch new developments to buyers the way Wall Street analysts used to pitch new IPOs. According to the National Association of Realtors, over a third of total sales in 2004 were to families buying a second home--most for 'investment' purposes.

While housing activity levels are still high from a historical perspective, there are signs that the market is starting to slow. Appreciation rates and sales rates have peaked, and some markets have seen a rapid increase in inventory levels. The recent Fed warning regarding inflation has sent mortgage rates up.

How long can this market last? Are we in for a soft landing or a crash? Who is likely to be left holding the bag when the smoke clears? These are the questions --among many others--about the California and National housing markets that we will attempt to answer at the Conference.

Challenging earlier findings, two studies from the Heritage Foundation reported yesterday that young people who took virginity pledges had lower rates of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases and engaged in fewer risky sexual behaviors.

The new findings were based on the same national survey used by earlier studies and conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. But the authors of the new study used different methods of statistical analysis from those in an earlier one that was widely publicized, making direct comparisons difficult.

...Those who made pledges were less likely to engage in vaginal intercourse, oral sex, anal sex and sex with a prostitute, and they were less likely to become prostitutes than were adolescents who did not take such a pledge, the Heritage team said.

Nationwide, the increase in monthly payments as more mortgage rates start to float will cost families about an extra $40 billion over the next two years, according to estimates by Credit Suisse First Boston. That is the rough equivalent of a 40-cent increase in gas prices over the same span, which would pinch incomes but would not be likely to create a recession.