Looks like were not that special after all.

Good Luck Dorks

Although its order books are full of planes to build for eager customers around the world, The Boeing Co. was shutting down its jetliner production in the Puget Sound area as its biggest union hit the picket lines early Saturday morning.

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· Photos from the picket line

It is the fourth strike in two decades against Boeing by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, arguably the most powerful manufacturing union left in the U.S.

Some 25,000 Machinists in the Puget Sound area struck at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after Boeing and the union could not make a breakthrough on contract talks that had been extended for 48 hours in hopes of averting a strike.

The walkout will halt Boeing's jetliner production and further delay the 787, possibly pushing the Dreamliner's first flight into next year. And it will likely cost Boeing about $2.8 billion in lost revenue per month, according to an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co.

Machinists, who on average make about $54,000 a year without overtime, will receive $150 a week in strike pay, but that won't kick in until the third week.

Seattle P.I.

This is just simply a must read.

I hate to tell you, but the storm has reached your location and it is a Category 5 hurricane. The levees are leaking. Ignore it at your own peril. The 6,000 sq ft McMansion buying, BMW leasing, $5 Starbucks latte drinking, granite countertop upgrading, home equity borrowing days are coming to an end. The American consumer will not go without a fight. For the last seven years the American consumer has carried the weight of the world on its shoulders. This has been a heavy burden, but when you take steroids it doesn’t seem so heavy. The steroid of choice for the American consumer has been debt. We have utilized home equity loans, cash out refinancing, credit card debt, and auto loans to live above our means. It has been a fun ride, but the ride is over. We can’t get steroids from our dealer (banks) anymore.
prudentbear.com

'Liar loans' threaten to prolong mortgage crisis
Monday August 18, 5:50 pm ET
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
'Liar loans' threaten to prolong mortgage crisis for 2 more years in some parts of US

In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" -- mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."

The nation's struggling housing market, already awash in subprime foreclosures, is now getting hit with a second wave of losses as homeowners with liar loans default in record numbers. In some parts of the country, the loans are threatening to drag out the mortgage crisis for another two years.

"Those loans are going to perform very badly," said Thomas Lawler, a Virginia housing economist. "They're heavily concentrated in states where home prices are plummeting" such as California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

Many homeowners with liar loans are stuck. They can't refinance because housing prices in those markets have nose-dived, and lenders are now demanding full documentation of income and assets.

From Yahoo

Here is another example of the housing bubble run a muck in Lake Stevens. In 2001 the house was sold for 220,000, then again in 2005 for 410,000 wow nice profit 190,000 in just 4 years works out to 47,500 a year. Why work a crappy job when this kind of money can be had for doing basically nothing. So now of course round two, buyer in 2005 wants his money, he's had the house for 3 years and list his house for 629,950 this works out to 73,316 dollars a year, wow even better so if anyone cares to give this guy his lotto/retirement check feel free. redfin

Just another failed short plat in the Lake Stevens area notice the ONE green lawn, well that's the one house that sold so of course the builder thought good times are coming so lets just build out the plat If we build it they will come mentality These are now available for rent, lease, lease option wonder how the One "home owner" feels about that.This is another house around the corner that you can't see in the first photo.

Great time to buy plus a lot of "choices" you know as long as you pick the same house over and over and over.......

Bonterra,Watermarke
Going on year 2 for this nicely "overpriced for the area" housing tract, not a single price reduction on this house. If you factor in carrying cost this is a huge loser no matter what it sells for.

EVERETT -- The banner for Colby Tower -- promising panoramic views of the water and mountains -- hangs on a building next to where the nine-story tower could rise in the future.

Construction on the handsomely designed structure, with nine luxury condominiums on the upper floors and mixed-use commercial space below, originally was scheduled to start last fall.

No date has been set for it or several other big projects around downtown Everett.

It's not a unique situation for commercial developments. The chilly economy and a tighter lending climate are delaying or killing projects around the nation.

Timothy Corpus, Colby Tower's developer, said five of the nine condos are reserved and he's trying to secure leases for the building's commercial space. That needs to happen for the building to go forward.

"We are confident we will be able to pre-lease space sufficient to satisfy lending requirements," he added Wednesday.

Also still looking for financing is Maritime Trust, the Chicago-based company that is partnering with the Port of Everett in a $400 million redevelopment on a portion of the city's waterfront. The Port Gardner Wharf project would include some 660 condominiums, along with a mix of retail shops, restaurants, offices and other buildings.






heraldnet.com