Housing Update – Going Up

Case-Shiller monthly take on the Housing market is just out. “YEAR-OVER-YEAR The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a -0.2% annual decrease in April, down from a gain of 0.7% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite showed a decrease of -1.2%, down from the … Read More

Housing Data Up as Market “Walks the Line”

Monday on a Tuesday – cool invention!  Is this a great country, or what? Because of the “breaking” natures of events, the submarine search is better handled by outfits like Sky News. Housing Vs. Interest Rates Just dropped by the FedGov is today’s report on Housing Starts. What gets to be the “interesting calculus going … Read More

Housing Prices

Case-Shiller/ S&P Corelogic press releases are missing in action.  Either that, or we have landcd on the bad media list, somehow. So instead of some reasoned analysis, make due with the CNBC story here. Home price declines may be over, S&P Case-Shiller says. Problem for the market:  This just SCREAMS to us that a minimum … Read More

Rearview Mirror: Housing

I guess today’s Housing report matters, to the degree you can drive by looking in the rearview mirror.  We’d mentioned before that it seems like a slow topping process was ongoing as net-to-seller due to higher interest rates was coming home to land on the mini-bubble: S&P CORELOGIC CASE-SHILLER INDEX DECLINES MODERATED IN FEBRUARY YEAR-OVER-YEAR … Read More

There Goes Housing – Slowly, Though

Latest Case-Shiller/S&P report just out: “Data released today for January 2023 show that the trend of declining home price gains continued across the United States with declining prices reported in the San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, and Seattle markets. YEAR-OVER-YEAR The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: 3D Printer Blunder, Spring Workout

Ah, the Country Life.  Yessir, if you live in the Big City, it’s a dream.  Why, just imagine! Eating fresh food out of your own garden.  Pure country air.  No traffic noises. Low stress.  Ultimately relaxing and rewarding…. Well, no.  Not exactly. During our ShopTalk Sunday adventures will tell you the upside – and the downsides … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: On Your Mower? Get Set…

Although I got a lot done this week, including some long-winded columns both here and on the Peoplenomics site, the two greatest accomplishments in making for a better spring were getting our income taxes done and repairing the lawnmower. “Wait?  The NEW Mower?“ Yeah, buddy.  The NEW mower.  Which we bought from Lowes, and which … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Mudding, Tape, and Sealing

…and ceiling,, too…. The (never-ending) project of getting the guest quarters up to snuff saw the “bulk, underlying” mud go on this week: Some discussion of old construction sheetrock repairs is warranted by this (ugly, but only for now) view. When “dealing with ceiling” and a repair of this type, I like to put a … Read More

Sliding Down Housing

Despite the upward bias in markets, we again may be the only people who can read, around here. S&P CORELOGIC CASE-SHILLER INDEX DECLINE CONTINUED IN DECEMBER NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 28, 2023: S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) today released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices. … Read More

FoodTalk Sunday: $249 Chocolate Chip Cookie

The ShopTalk Sunday column is about making things to eat.  But not just any things.  There’s the whole aspect of doing of things to perfection woven into the mix, too. Which leads directly to Tuesday’s disaster which rippled to within inches of becoming a $249 Chocolate Chip Cookie. However, many “Foodie” things are “cooking” here. 1- We will … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Combat Loading – Material Handling

Actual progress around the Ure joint, even with the house guest this week.  Elaine’s son is an extremely useful fellow.  Having run something of a Home Handyman Service before going to work for the post office. Hard to explain to people sometimes, how useful (and valuable!) that wide range of “hands-on” work can be.  Seems … Read More

CPI, UFOs, EoW?

Yes, we’re figuring things are going seriously off the rails, and we are holding a (painfully expensive so far) short position against the market going into today.  We think it’s way overpriced. Why?  (CPI) Well, that’s a good one, ain’t it?  We are at an illogical point, even up through the futures this morning before the … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Ice? Solar Vs. Genset

Ok, sitting down after a day of working on post-storm chores. As you will remember, the ice storm took us almost offline, except that now I understand why a tablet and Starlink are so crucial to people in Ukraine.  They work great.  Able to look over comments and approve things along with the odd post even … Read More