The World According to Tempus

Gas prices: too high?

Too high for most people's wallet, maybe... well I live 20 minutes walk from a train station that can take me downtown in 30 minutes, so I can't complain! But there sure are a lot of people complaining about getting gouged at the gas station, especially here in Montréal where unleaded prices are hovering around 1.50$/liter (6$/gallon).

The taxes and refining conditions are of course different in the US, but I saw this chart today that tells you an obvious answer:

Countrywide foreclosures

The carnage in residential real estate  continues in earnest... We haven't seen the bottom yet, as new foreclosures continue to add to the stockpiles of unsold homes. And we can expect another year of growing foreclosures as more ARMs get reset, which is expected to peak in spring 2009.

Here is an interesting blog that keeps track of events in the residential mortgage market.

http://countrywide-foreclosures.blogspot.com/