Jun 1, 2006 Reader's Guide To Housing Bust

Rick's Picks

Reader's Guide To Housing Bust

Rick Ackerman
Thursday Jun 1, 2006

Excerpt from Rick's Picks (website).
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The Rick's Picks switchboard lit up like a string of Black Cats yesterday as alarmed readers responded to my wake-up call ahead of America's impending real estate crash. The sole skeptic has been Frank P, a useful idiot whose thoughts served as counterpoint to the discussion we had on the topic yesterday. Turns out I'm not the only one Frank has been pestering with his odd ideas, including the surreal notion that there is no housing bubble. Louis Hill, author of what looks to be an excellent primer on the gathering bust, has been stalked by Frank, and so, evidently, have others of the bearish persuasion. I won't dwell any longer on his crackpot ideas, but I shouldn't pass up this opportunity to refer you to Hill's fascinating website , where you can order up an instant eCopy of his book. It contains some useful chapters on surviving the crash, as well as a lucid and compelling explanation of how we got into this mess. I would also recommend visiting the wonderfully eclectic blog of Charles Hugh Smith, a Steve McQueen lookalike and apparent Sinophile who thought Hill's book was terrific.

I mentioned that Frank had sent me some head-in-the-sand dispatches from Bloomberg et al. implying that talk of a housing bust is just alarmism. What I did not realize until yesterday was that for every word of such nonsense that comes out of Bloomberg, there are fifty lucid words from other sources to serve as a reality check. Below is a short list of links sent to me by a reader, in case you'd like to get up to speed. The topics cover housing-bust news for only about the last week or so, but it's a pretty good sampling of the genre. It would be unusual, I must admit, for something so well anticipated and well documented to precipitate out exactly as expected. Even so, the collection of news stories below will leave you with little doubt that homeowners are teetering on the edge of a deflationary crisis:

Pick Your Topic...

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Hidden-Pivot Seminar

Quite a few of you have indicated you are likely to attend the hidden-pivot seminar in New York this October. I've also heard from about a half-dozen Australian readers and subscribers who said they're interested but that it would be too far to travel. However, I'm willing to come to Sydney or Melbourne if I can fill a class, so let me please hear from you if that would work.

The New York session will be a no-frills version of the course that I gave in Denver, offered at a significant saving over the original price. After that there will probably be just one more session offered - in San Francisco, late in 2006 or early 2007 -- but that would be the last for a long while.

The course includes post-grad mentoring via a chat group that some of my former students have set up. If you've been impressed with the accuracy of my forecasts, this is an opportunity you should not pass up. Please let me know via e-mail if you are serious about coming.

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Rick Ackerman
email: publisher1@rickackerman.com

Information and commentary contained herein comes from sources believed to be reliable, but this cannot be guaranteed. Past performance should not be construed as an indicator of future results, so let the buyer beware. Rick's Picks does not provide investment advice to individuals, nor act as an investment advisor, nor individually advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment. From time to time, its editor may hold positions in issues referred to in this service, and he may alter or augment them at any time. Investments recommended herein should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor, and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Rick's Picks reserves the right to use e-mail endorsements and/or profit claims from its subscribers for marketing purposes. All names will be kept anonymous and only subscribers' initials will be used unless express written permission has been granted to the contrary. All Contents ©2005-2006, Rick Ackerman. All Rights Reserved. You can subscribe here.

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