John T. Reed’s news blog

Here is the first paragraph of the front-page story on the Champlain Towers collapse. . "When warning signals flashed about structural and maintenance problems at Champlain Towers South, the information was muted and confusing signaling that the condo owners didn't need to remedy the situation urgently..." . That is exactly what the WSJ has been doing for more than a year regarding the danger of hyperinflation. I called it whispering "fire" in a crowded theater that is, in fact, on fire. . I have been telling you that you "need to remedy the situation urgently." . There is a pertinent...

Today’s WSJ has an article on the housing market. Titled “Would-Be Home Buyers Shut Out Of Homes,” it basically says that prices are rising fast with almost all homes selling for more than asking price and that down payments are either 100% or at least bigger than normal with many first-time buyers doing what our son Mike just did: getting down payment money from parents. . Low down payment loans like the VA nothing down, FHA 2%, and PMI 5% are still doable, but are at a big disadvantage. . The parental down payment help is described as a “gift”...

Rare column by Jason Zweig in this weekend’s WSJ. . It starts, “I’ve had it. The Wall Street Journal is wrong and has remained wrong for decades about one of the most basic distinctions in finance.” . And what is that? Sounds like Zweig is a Benjamin Graham follower, a “value investor.” His column has the same title as one of Graham’s books: The Intelligent Investor. And he believes that anyone else in the stock market is NOT an “investor” worthy of that name. (One of my books is title Best Practices for The Intelligent Real Estate Investor.. . The...

I had great expectations for Michel Lewis’s new book: The Premonition. It’s about the pandemic. . I just finished it. . It says government at all levels is congenitally incompetent at managing a pandemic. Risks must be taken. Outcomes are uncertain. Politicians are at the top of the chain of command. All they care about is taking credit for everything good and blaming their opponents for everything bad. It is a disaster. . He identifies a collection of smart people some inside the bureaucracy, most outside in informal groups of people who are good at diagnosing the problem and know...

Jonathan Lansner, a business columnist for the East Bay Times, called for a government ban on building new stores. He wants housing instead. America has what are called free markets. They are Old Testament harsh. If you build an unneeded store, you will have to pay an unpayable mortgage with rent that you could not find. The market punishes vacant building developers. He says cities prefer stores because they “control” sales tax revenue. The average Californian pays $997 a year in sales tax and the average home pays $7,266 in property taxes. The average unneeded vacant store pays $0 in...