If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
Has everyone seen the documentary Inside Job, about the wall street meltdown. I just saw it this weekend, and immediately watched it a second time. This is a great film if you want to understand what happened. Pure greed, corruption, and fraud. Why are these guys not in jail by now.
Here is the movie trailer, I highly recommend every see it.
Personally, I preferred it to the more recent "Too Big to Fail" but hey your comments about the guys in the US could just as easily apply to Mark Carney, the CMHC and half the realtor profession here in Canada.
They aren't in jail because whereas many people who win lotteries would blow wads of cash on consumables until they were bankrupt these guys kept some money aside to bribe ...er, "convince" the politicians that they are doing God's work and besides who could have predicted such an unlikely event as a housing bubble bursting? ;-)
"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.
A burst housing bubble in itself isn't a disaster. It depends on the financial situation of the person with the mortgage and there terms of the mortgage itself.
In at least one province which has non recourse mortgatges there is a problem. People can pretty much walk away from the property. CMHC mortgages are recourse so they can go after other assets to satisfy the debt as they can in other provinces with recourse mortgages. Many states in the U.S. are non recourse so they are having a big problem. Comparing the U.S. to Canada is in many cases apples and oranges.
A difficult situation would be like around 1980 when interest rates went over 20 per cent. House prices go down because people can afford X dollar mortgage payment a month. The principle and interest have to add up to that amount. Lower interest rates allow a higher house price and vice versa.
Do you know when the IMF gives some nation a cash infusion bailout, almost 3 percent is our money? These days I'm an old guy who doesn't give a sh... err.. darn.
...
In at least one province which has non recourse mortgatges there is a problem. People can pretty much walk away from the property. CMHC mortgages are recourse so they can go after other assets to satisfy the debt as they can in other provinces with recourse mortgages. ...
You can only get money out of people who have it. A lot of people's wealth is tied up in their homes and pretty much only their homes. If their home value takes a hit, how is the government going to get the money back?
"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.
The Big Short by Michael Lewis - if you haven't read it yet, put it on your must-read list.
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
"If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey
I've seen it, it was a bit simplistic in its apporach but pretty good. Simplistic in that the main messages were: derivatives always bad, academics who do any outside consulting work are always corrupt, everyone on wall street is on coke and using prostitutes. Other than that not too bad. A lot of these movies seem to be put together by filmmakers that understand drama but not financial markets.
Last edited by Zeljko Kitich; Tuesday, 28th June, 2011, 12:47 AM.
The main problem with the housing market was that the banks seemed to forget that the foreclosure model did not work with mass foreclosures. If you foreclose entire neighbourhoods you are not going to be able to re-sell any of those homes in the future. They are going to be vandalized, robbed for material and turn into ghost towns. Foreclose on one house on one block okay but foreclose on the whole block and it's really the banks problem now. Mass foreclosurers were not the answer to subprime loans that defaulted.
The main problem with the housing market was that the banks seemed to forget that the foreclosure model did not work with mass foreclosures. If you foreclose entire neighbourhoods you are not going to be able to re-sell any of those homes in the future. They are going to be vandalized, robbed for material and turn into ghost towns. Foreclose on one house on one block okay but foreclose on the whole block and it's really the banks problem now. Mass foreclosurers were not the answer to subprime loans that defaulted.
You are missing one of key elements in this drama. The banks sold all the mortgages thru these derivatives to other investors, often pension plans. So when people couldn't afford to pay the mortgage and walked away, it wasn't the banks that suffered the loss, but peoples pension and retirement savings. Meanwhile, the bankers were walking away with million dollar bonuses. Are you getting mad yet?
You are missing one of key elements in this drama. The banks sold all the mortgages thru these derivatives to other investors, often pension plans. So when people couldn't afford to pay the mortgage and walked away, it wasn't the banks that suffered the loss, but peoples pension and retirement savings. Meanwhile, the bankers were walking away with million dollar bonuses. Are you getting mad yet?
How is this different than Canada? CMHC insures mortgages. Sounds nice. But who's insured? The borrower? No. The lender. What incentive does a bank have to make responsible loans? If people can't come up with more than 5% of the cost of a house maybe they should be renting a bit longer.
Basically what the government has done is create a taxpayer backstop for the people who are most likely to default on making their payments. They have created an enormous moral hazard and as a result there is almost no incentive for banks to stop lending money out in ever-increasing sums to people who ultimately are quite likely to be unable to pay (e.g. if the economy goes back into recession or if interest rates start rising or if the value of their homes start dropping). This increases house prices to unsustainable levels. CMHC should be scrapped, imo.
"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.
So many people are given massive amounts of student loans, for programs where, realistically speaking, they have no real job prospects.
They are charged ridiculous interest rates (Prime + 2% or +2.5% usually) on this government loan, although it's technically run through the major banks. The banks earn all the profits as many of the borrowers try to pay them down.
Note that when applying for OSAP or one of the other province's loan programs, they do NOT consider your credit rating, nor do they consider your future income potential. About the only way to be rejected is to a) be currently bankrupt or b) to have defaulted on a student loan in the past.
And to top off the whole scam... as soon as you DO default on your loan, the Government buys it back from the bank - yes that's right, it's fully insured by the Government. So the bank can earn all these profits at absolutely zero risk.
At least with mortgages, they (usually) do their due diligence ahead of time to make sure someone can afford it, and not every mortgage is insured with CMHC.
So many people are given massive amounts of student loans, for programs where, realistically speaking, they have no real job prospects.
They are charged ridiculous interest rates (Prime + 2% or +2.5% usually) on this government loan, although it's technically run through the major banks. The banks earn all the profits as many of the borrowers try to pay them down.
Note that when applying for OSAP or one of the other province's loan programs, they do NOT consider your credit rating, nor do they consider your future income potential. About the only way to be rejected is to a) be currently bankrupt or b) to have defaulted on a student loan in the past.
And to top off the whole scam... as soon as you DO default on your loan, the Government buys it back from the bank - yes that's right, it's fully insured by the Government. So the bank can earn all these profits at absolutely zero risk.
At least with mortgages, they (usually) do their due diligence ahead of time to make sure someone can afford it, and not every mortgage is insured with CMHC.
The end result is that education continues to increase in price at a greater rate than inflation. Another example of the government trying to make something more affordable, but actually making it less affordable.
"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.
You are missing one of key elements in this drama. The banks sold all the mortgages thru these derivatives to other investors, often pension plans. So when people couldn't afford to pay the mortgage and walked away, it wasn't the banks that suffered the loss, but peoples pension and retirement savings. Meanwhile, the bankers were walking away with million dollar bonuses. Are you getting mad yet?
We've studied this a lot in business class and yes I'm not very happy about it at all. I believe it was still the banks that decided when to foreclose. Whoever made the actual decision to foreclose should have thought it through and tried to do everything possible to allow people to stay in their homes. I don't think people walked away until they were forced to. I don't think it was the pension funds that initiated the foreclosues. I also don't think pension funds were ever authorized to take on this amount of risk.
However, I am also not willing to buy the smear campaign of the movie that everyone who works on Wall Street is into coke and prostitutes, that Wall Street is fueled by those two things or that any academic who does outside consulting work is suspect and corrupt.
Definintely agree about the rating agencies, and still nothing has been done about them.
Last edited by Zeljko Kitich; Tuesday, 28th June, 2011, 09:17 AM.
How is this different than Canada? CMHC insures mortgages. Sounds nice. But who's insured? The borrower? No. The lender. What incentive does a bank have to make responsible loans? If people can't come up with more than 5% of the cost of a house maybe they should be renting a bit longer.
Basically what the government has done is create a taxpayer backstop for the people who are most likely to default on making their payments. They have created an enormous moral hazard and as a result there is almost no incentive for banks to stop lending money out in ever-increasing sums to people who ultimately are quite likely to be unable to pay (e.g. if the economy goes back into recession or if interest rates start rising or if the value of their homes start dropping). This increases house prices to unsustainable levels. CMHC should be scrapped, imo.
It's actually any morgage under a 20% down payment that requires CMHC insurance. CMHC also makes a very large profit and puts some of this into non-profit housing projects. Most of the time in Canada most if not all of the money for a mortgage can be recouped simply by foreclosing & selling under a power of sale. There's never been an indication that I know of that Canadian banks are reckless in their mortgage lending practices because of CHMC. For example I know of one person who has a fully paid off house but is not able to get a mortgage because she is a full time student right now and thus has no employment income. Despite the substantial collateral the banks won't do a mortgage. Also without CMHC insurance the risk would be higher for the lender and they would raise mortgage interest rates to compensate for this.
Last edited by Zeljko Kitich; Tuesday, 28th June, 2011, 09:06 AM.
Tweet
Comment