pay back the money as fast as posable

great typo

The End by by Michael Lewis (author of 1989 book Liar's Poker )

and i have read a lot of articles on this topic, before it was even heard of in the…

With seating for 73 and a dance floor it's hard to go past her.

Ouch.

Dead cat bounce?

Mining stocks look attractive here in Australia. I cannot see a sustained recovery unless there is a corresponding upturn in demand; they still have to negotiate new iron ore prices with China, which could see them go lower.

Loving the cricket...

to not know the full story probably puts you in the sourpuss department.

Yeah, I figured as much. It's just that my initial feelings of jealousy led me to feel progressively grumpier on my way home. It was a potential six packs worth of savings however!

Dead cat bounce?

community services card.

Jeremy, to not know the full story probably puts you in the sourpuss department. No matter what the car or address, these people could be high end users of medications for various reasons and thus entitled to the card. But yes, we tend to like quality beer…

Am I just becoming a begrudging old sourpuss?

Hard to say. How old are you?

I can report on the beer front that a friend's homebrew far surpasses the standard supermarket fare of Speight's and Steilnlager and Export Gold and so on cloning. I don't have time to tackle that…

And he can turn just about anything into a reasonable wine.

I suppose I should have been more specific. I am referring to the generic penny pinching beer brewing kits.
Homemade wine/cider/mead however is a different story.

And no-one can convince me that home brew is a suitable alternative to decent store bought

Certainly that's the case for my homebrew. Some of the last batch of cider I did I tossed it was approaching undrinkable. I'll try again in a month when the apple tree throws about…

we have an instant home loan available on call ....

I have an instant builder/cabinet maker available on call :)

Also, I read in the DomPost today that banks won't lend to single people without a big deposit. Is this legal – marital status is a prohibited ground of discrimination, isn't it?

You mean like how insurance companies make males under 25 pay more for car insurance even if they've…

Look – I don't take Colin to be suggesting that we respond to uncertain times in an ignorant or simplistic way, but…

You will be fine as long as your case is too confusing for a New Zealand Jury.

same shit different day

Yep, corrupt wide boys with a raging sense of entitlement, enabled by slack enforcement and a culture of insider trading and poor financial literacy. Spose I'd better stop now before one of them goes all Stiassny on me..

The $3.7 million of related party loans on the asset side of the balance sheet appears to comprise loans to Sally Hotchin and Joanne Doolan, wives of the directors. Some of these were capitalised interest…

Never heard about buying low?

That's Gold.

however the last year really gives me no confidence about investing in the market

Never heard about buying low? The market is due to rebound any minute now. You know, like in Japan.

The last time I fixed my rate I mentioned that in passing to my mortgage manager and she said "yeah, we don't do that anymore". I wasn't shocked.

You mean banks are profit-making enterprises whose shareholders expect some kind of return? Well, bugger me with a feather...

...but the break fee seems to take into account the likely fall in interest rates over the period of the loan. So now that it is really freaking obvious to everyone that rates are going down, that's largely priced into the break fee.

That's pretty much exactly how my bank…

I don't have the resources or the intention to prop the banks up to save the system myself . That can only be done as a collective effort.

I believe Gareth Morgan was agreeing with you on Campbell Live last night (streaming vid).

And the producers exploit 3rd world children.

Ah, yes... Can I just note the irony of accusations being fired at Slumdog Millionaire "unrealistic" depictions of Mumbai, and exploiting child actors by an industry hardly known as a bastion of documentary social realism and being a world-leader when it comes to…

Balls, Rich. More like middle-class twats who vote took on debt they couldn't realistically service to buy grossly over-valued property, and I don't think anyone would find it politic to say "well, sometime you roll the dice and get snake eyes, suck it up."

It seems that right now there's…

We're all holding out for the bottom.

The same is probably true of the sharemarket, which is why I think there is a lot of hurting going on.

Following on from Slarty's break fees point. I checked mine out recently, and I haven't been bothered to check the actual formula…

I hear Slumdog Millionaire is quite good.

Not enough cars, guns and explosions. And the producers exploit 3rd world children. But mostly not actiony enough.

Remember, two years ago the banks were returning 8% or more on investments; by comparison with that, 9% from an investment company wasn't high enough to set off any warnings.

Yeah, it could have been higher. 9% is just the first figure that popped into my head because I remember…

But of course, the number one priority for this government is to help the affluent avoid having to sell the bach, SUV or rental property.

Balls, Rich. More like middle-class twats who vote took on debt they couldn't realistically service to buy grossly over-valued property, and I don't think anyone…

I couldn't muster vast amounts of sympathy for the people who thought they could get a 9% return by putting all their assets in one finance company and expect it to be as safe as if they'd had it in the bank at 6%.

That's a little unfair.

Remember, two…

My mortgage is split into 4 – 3 fixed, one floating.

A fixed one comes up about every 18 months (I vary term based on my wild guesstimates in the market). I've got 2 rolling over in the next year.

How hard is that? My…

Also, I read in the DomPost today that banks won't lend to single people without a big deposit. Is this legal – marital status is a prohibited ground of discrimination, isn't it?

If they really are using it to discriminate... then yeah thats bad and probably illegal (IANAL).

But I…

but if you do then my business and all of that interest is going elsewhere.

This of course is your only power in the relationship. But it is a very strong position at the moment.

This depression was finally triggered by terrible banking and lending practices in the US banking…

damn – I paid mine off this year – I could be getting a lower rate!

If it makes you feel better Paul, I'll let you help pay mine – out of the goodness of my heart of course.

As a whole bunch of people will doubtless be saying at…

I'd intrigued to know what the banks are saying to people who say "I know I signed up for this break fee, I know you are entitled to charge the break fee, but if you do then my business and all of that interest is going elsewhere."

Yeah, that's Plan…

Anyone keen for a house swap?

No, but apparently if you can arrange to settle selling your house and buying a new one one the same day it may be possible to transfer your current mortgage – if that would suffice.

Won't help with the interest, but.

As a person…

but if you do then my business and all of that interest is going elsewhere

But how do they know you won't go elsewhere anyway at some point in the next 25 years. You want loyalty, get a dog. (and other aphorisms).

Suddenly, they don't get to have their (okay, our) cake and eat it too, so they squeal and pout for a bit.

And ask…

In the end, we signed up for the rates and the break fees. We made a bet and some of us will…

You wouldn't usually expect to be able to break a fixed rate and remortage to save money. If you could, they would advertise it as having a put option and it would be more expensive to pay for this. (Not to mention that everyone who knows how…

I'm feeling pretty pleased with my own reading of the entrails...

Heh. Actually, I can slightly discount my smugness because I originally picked the top would be earlier, which is why I was having to refix last May.

It's just kind of nice to see them freaking out a bit.

My 2-year fixed is up for expiry in two months... It rose about 1.5 % since I fixed in at 8.5%, and I was starting to think I didnt fix for long enough then all of a sudden- slow…

And now he wants to throw away more tax dollars so that it's own customers like Mark here can give it less money.…

And will they take it before I agree to give them $16,500 in breaking fees later today?

Nah didn't think so...ah well, it's a long game, innit?