Canada Housing/Debt: Trust me, I'm a landlord.

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Mantle: May 15, 2004

Cultural Imperial posted:

S&P500 is tanking. Also, WTI is very close to breaking $40.

I missed out on buying in 2009 because I was unemployed so I'm looking forward to buying the gently caress out of this recession!

# ? Aug 21, 2015 15:57

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# ? May 15, 2024 04:54

Health Services: Feb 27, 2009

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...rticle26041950/

Tldr, households keep spending to prop up the economy while Steve-o balances Canada's budget. The former is a consequence of the latter.

BTW, consumer spending is up yoy!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-21/canada-june-retail-sales-rise-faster-than-expected-on-phones

Good job you dumb fucks

Munir Sheikh knows exactly how to talk to me. :allears:

# ? Aug 21, 2015 17:37

The Butcher: Apr 20, 2005; Well, at least we tried.; Nap Ghost

Rick Rickshaw posted:

So tempting to sell my Canadian index funds, but luckily I don't hold a high percentage. And remember folks, the best investor is a dead investor.

Been a drat nice week to be betting against Canada.

https://www.google.ca/finance?q=TSE:HXD

# ? Aug 21, 2015 17:55

Corrupt Cypher: Jul 20, 2006

The Butcher posted:

Been a drat nice week to be betting against Canada.

https://www.google.ca/finance?q=TSE:HXD

I was going to say the same thing. I've been holding it since November and always said I would sell once the house of housing cards fell. What is your exit strategy?

# ? Aug 21, 2015 18:03

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

Time for a CI boner-inducing moment:

:siren:

Oil dropped below $40/barrel :siren:

Also China is taking a poo poo kicking in production rates and its causing energy to plummet even faster than expected or something.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 18:32

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

# ? Aug 21, 2015 18:46

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

# ? Aug 21, 2015 19:08

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

quote:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-west-we-really-don-t-see-where-the-end-might-be-1.3197201?cmp=rss

Paula Williams came to Labrador West six years ago, timing her arrival with the beginning of an iron ore-fuelled economic boom that soon became the talk of the country.

She landed herself a job with the local health authority, and her spouse also found steady work.

Wabush pensioners angry about prospect of reduced incomes
IOC exec says Labrador West operations 'at risk'
Three years later, they purchased a mobile home at the height of the market for $225,000, believing their future was set.

Now she feels trapped in this isolated region on Labrador's western border.

Not long ago, her spouse lost his job and moved back to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, in central Labrador.

Terry Curran
Terry Curran is a vice-president with H. J. O'Connell Construction in Labrador West. He's also deputy mayor with the Town of Wabush. Curran says the company has trimmed its workforce by two-thirds. (CBC)

She wants to follow him, but there's a problem. She can't sell the mobile home that fetched such a steep price just three years ago.

She had it on the market for six months. Not one call.

"I've decided I'm better off staying here and waiting it out until the economy improves," Williams told CBC News this week.

A widespread sense of uncertainty, fear

Williams is one of many caught in a steep downturn in iron ore markets, the one industry that sustains the neighbouring towns of Labrador City and Wabush, which have a combined population of roughly 10,000.

With one operation, Wabush Mines, closed and another, the Iron Ore Company of Canada's sprawling mine and processing operation in Labrador City, at risk, there's a widespread sense of uncertainty and fear in this region.

Labrador Mall
The halls and businesses at the Labrador Mall are very quiet these says, with one business owner saying activity has dropped by 30 per cent. (CBC)

Talk to anyone here, and they'll say they've never witnessed such a devastating collapse, following such an impressive boom that lasted from 2009 to 2013.

The local housing market, for example, was as hot as any in the country not too long ago.

Read more articles by Terry Roberts
If you had property to rent or sell, you could expect to make some unimaginable profits. Many did.

Lab West-O'Connell
A fleet of earth-moving equipment at H. J. O'Connell's yard near the airport in Wabush is is parked, and the company's workforce has been reduced by two-thirds. (CBC)

But the market has practically crashed. One real estate agent estimated the number of homes for sale at 300 units, and several subdivisions have stalled.

Rents have also tumbled, with a tenant in one 100-unit apartment complex saying the building is now 40 per cent empty.

Northern Property, a large real estate trust with a long list of property holdings in the region, is now offering a summer special that includes lower security deposits and free lodgings for the first month.

A social worker who helps those with special needs find housing told CBC News the situation was critical a few years ago, but now there are multiple options, at much lower prices.

A business community on edge

The signs are just as troubling in the business community.

When someone comes to the office at H. J. O'Connell Construction Limited in Labrador West these days, they are not greeted by a smiling face at the receptionist's desk.

Lab West-stalled housing
A recent housing frenzy in Labrador West has all but come to a standstill. One homeowner said two new units in his row house have been unoccupied for two years. (CBC)

You want assistance?

Ring the bell on the desk, and wait to see if anyone in the largely empty office heard it.

The company's workforce has been trimmed by about two-thirds.

O'Connell has been involved in the region's iron ore industry for four decades. But you wouldn't know it by visiting its operations near the Wabush airport.

Lab West-For Rent
Signs like this were practically non-existent in Labrador West a few years ago. But that's all changed following a downturn in the iron ore industry, highlighted by the closure of Wabush Mines in 2014. (CBC)

A rock crusher is operating nearby, but that's another company doing work on the runway.

A lone excavator is moving some dirt in the background, but most of the big metal monsters are parked, and that means they're not making money for one of the largest construction companies in eastern Canada.

It's an unwelcome situation for O'Connell vice-president Terry Curran, a Montreal native who has worked in Labrador for many years.

"This is for sure a deeper and longer � recession if you will, for the industry. And we really don't right now see where the end might be," Curran told CBC News during an interview on Tuesday.

It's eerily quiet at the mall

Curran predicts the slump could last for at least another two years, and that's not want business owners at the Labrador Mall want to hear.

These days, the shopping centre is quiet � eerily quiet.

Wabush Mines-truck
Heavy trucks once used to haul ore at Wabush Mines are now parked, gathering rust. The operation, which employed nearly 500 workers, closed in 2014. (CBC)

The Co-op recently closed, leaving just one grocery store in the region. A restaurant owner said her business is down by about 30 per cent, and many of her staff have moved on because of dwindling tips and reduced hours of work.

The owner of a ladies' fashion store, when complimented on her businesses, offered a polite thanks and added, "All I need now are people."

It's the same situation down the hall at Ann Marie's Flowers, where owner Sharron Clark is facing a 10 per cent rent increase this fall, steadily increasing freight costs, and the slowest sales in the nine years she's been involved with the business.

When asked if she fears for the future of her business, she said "time will tell."

IOC-Labrador City-power lines
Residents of Labrador West on are on edge these days, with officials from the Iron Ore Company of Canada saying recently that its mine and processing operation is at risk. (CBC)

She said people are just not spending because of persistent rumours about the fate of the IOC operation, and fears that it may suffer a similar fate as nearby Wabush Mines, and Bloom Lake just across the border in Quebec.

Clark said she's OK for now, but is pinning her hopes on an economic turnaround.

"If this keeps up? I don't know. Five years, I would say, and I'm gone."

Not all doom and gloom

It's an unnerving situation for town leaders like Labrador City Mayor Karen Oldford. But she's confident the area will weather this storm.

She said the Labrador Trough is a rich ore deposit, and the area boasts a highly skilled workforce and supply sector.

She believes markets will rebound, and other projects on the horizon, including the much-touted Kami Project, and the potential of the Julienne Lake ore deposit, will be developed.

"I have no doubt that there's still another rich history here of 50 years or more beyond what we currently have," she said.

Rent culture is for poors, help me out of this oversize mortgage I'm underwater :qq:

Risky Bisquick fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Aug 21, 2015

# ? Aug 21, 2015 19:39

Meat Recital: Mar 26, 2009; by zen death robot

Gotta build that motor home equity.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 19:50

bring back old gbs: Feb 28, 2007; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Havin a good lol @ the person who bought a mobile home but is also stuck wherever their mobile home is currently parked. A classic case of failing to build up truck equity, leaving your other investments in the lurch.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 19:58

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

I posted about Labrador before. People there are the goddamn stupidest rednecks imaginable. Way, way worse than Alberta. Those "mobile homes" are nothing, people have legit paid $400k+ for bungalows there in the past 5 years and now the place is legitimately on the verge of becoming a ghost town.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 19:58

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

32MB OF ESRAM posted:

Havin a good lol @ the person who bought a mobile home but is also stuck wherever their mobile home is. A classic case of failing to build up truck equity, leaving your other investments in the lurch.

They aren't really "mobile" homes at all and they never were. Nobody has ever moved those homes and a lot of them have been renovated in ways that preclude ever moving them.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:00

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

They aren't on a fixed foundation that's about it. Even if you were gonna move it, where the gently caress are you gonna move it? Drive is *600*Km to Baie-fuckin-Comeau Quebec, mostly over a dirt road? That whole city is mega-hosed even more than Fort Mac. If I hadn't grown up there I wouldn't even be able to imagine the stupidity necessary to think spending almost half a million on a house there was a good idea. That place going under gives me CI level schaden-boners.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:09

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

At the peak of Quebec separation fervor, I always said the best thing to come out of that would be relief from the burden of carrying those poo poo provinces as they get absorbed into Maine.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:25

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

jm20 posted:

Rent culture is for poors, help me out of this oversize mortgage I'm underwater

lmao at people who buy when they move into a boom town region.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:33

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:

They aren't on a fixed foundation that's about it. Even if you were gonna move it, where the gently caress are you gonna move it? Drive is *600*Km to Baie-fuckin-Comeau Quebec, mostly over a dirt road? That whole city is mega-hosed even more than Fort Mac. If I hadn't grown up there I wouldn't even be able to imagine the stupidity necessary to think spending almost half a million on a house there was a good idea. That place going under gives me CI level schaden-boners.

This must be a Newfoundlander thing. My buddy is overflowing with joy knowing his home town out there is also about to become a ghost town.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:34

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

I love love love my home province but Labrador City is an enormous poo poo hole. It was Fort Mac before Fort Mac existed. The types of people living there are people who grew up there, worked in Alberta for a bit, then decided that even Alberta wasn't a big enough poo poo heap for them and moved back.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:49

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

Maybe it's not too late to become a teacher in South Korea.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:52

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

Kafka Esq. posted:

Maybe it's not too late to become a teacher in South Korea.

Busan is always hiring

# ? Aug 21, 2015 20:54

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

jm20 posted:

Rent culture is for poors, help me out of this oversize mortgage I'm underwater

It's almost like building a city around a commodity economy is a pretty bad idea given how commodities such as iron ore and oil change rapidly over time.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 21:51

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

etalian posted:

It's almost like building a city around a commodity economy is a pretty bad idea given how commodities such as iron ore and oil change rapidly over time.

They are also finite in source making it even more hilarious. There are thousands of now ghost towns that were built specifically around a single finite resource. But no, this time its different because Canada.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 22:08

blah_blah: Apr 15, 2006

etalian posted:

lmao at people who buy A MOBILE HOME when they move into a boom town region.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 22:37

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

Furnaceface posted:

They are also finite in source making it even more hilarious. There are thousands of now ghost towns that were built specifically around a single finite resource. But no, this time its different because Canada.

There is quite literally one a 2 hour drive from Labrador West. You have to pass it on the only road into town from the West. It wasn't even abandoned all that loving long ago.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 23:30

spoof: Jul 8, 2004

rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:

There is quite literally one a 2 hour drive from Labrador West. You have to pass it on the only road into town from the West. It wasn't even abandoned all that loving long ago.

Good ol' Gagnon. Founded 1960, torn down 1985.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 00:15

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

I'm on the tarmac here at o'hare and there's a Canadian Captain of Industry telling someone about his awesome technique of horizontally streaming oil out of sand in the ground and how it's so much cleaner than fracking.

Good luck with that bro

E: he's from Nova Scotia. Now living in Calgary.

"New Brunswick is horrible"

E2: "Vancouver is special, there's not many places where you can go to the ocean, go to the mountains all in the same day"

Eagerly awaiting to hear him talk about his douched out f250 and his investment properties

namaste friends fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Aug 22, 2015

# ? Aug 22, 2015 01:30

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

Vancouver is special alright.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 01:55

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:

Vancouver is special alright.

There is something magical about the view from up the north shore mountains.

It doesn't make our houses worth a gillion dollars though. That is crazy people.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 02:00

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:

Vancouver is special alright.

it's special much like a school's short bus

# ? Aug 22, 2015 03:02

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

etalian posted:

it's special much like a school's short bus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FEW5mh7iAI

# ? Aug 22, 2015 03:35

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

If you think Lab City/Wabush are hosed you should check out Schefferville. Single-asset iron ore miners that are largely bankrupt, and even more remote - no roads to the town. Companies were paying $1M+ for staff houses during the boom. Apparently about 1% of the town died over the winter due to suicides, crashes and overdoses.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 03:50

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Wow I had no idea you guys had an iron ore boom and bust too. Australia and Canada's fates really are linked.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 04:18

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

Also sounds like Russia. :v:

# ? Aug 22, 2015 04:21

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Wow I had no idea you guys had an iron ore boom and bust too. Australia and Canada's fates really are linked.

in terms of market cap materials is the 3rd highest sector in the Canadian economy.

Nothing says amazing economy when materials, finance and also energy makes up 62% of all canadian market cap.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 05:11

Wistful of Dollars: Aug 25, 2009

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Wow I had no idea you guys had an iron ore boom and bust too. Australia and Canada's fates really are linked.

Truly two countries joined at the butt.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 05:25

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

quote:

TD: left out of the discussion on Canada economy is resilience of Canadian consumer, whose spending makes up about /1/2 of output #cdnecon

Check out @dbcurren's Tweet: https://twitter.com/dbcurren/status/635043891335561216?s=09

quote:

@dbcurren resilience of the Canadian borrower more precisely

Check out @hmacbe's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hmacbe/status/635044863050838017?s=09

# ? Aug 22, 2015 15:13

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

Nobody is talking about it because a country whose economy is propped up by the consumption of its over-indebted and unemployed populace, is quite clearly hosed. :v:

# ? Aug 22, 2015 15:18

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Wow I had no idea you guys had an iron ore boom and bust too. Australia and Canada's fates really are linked.

The difference is that Australia still has an iron ore industry. Even the Canadian mines that supplied the Great Lakes smelters are shuttering, and that doesn't have the $20/t shipping to China added on to costs.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 15:23

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Harper/Conservatives will win again this fall and then blame the opposition parties when the economy implodes.

It's because we didn't pass enough tax cut plans!

# ? Aug 22, 2015 15:30

Wasting: Apr 25, 2013; The next to go

etalian posted:

Harper/Conservatives will win again this fall and then blame the opposition parties when the economy implodes.

It's because we didn't pass enough tax cut plans!

I think the opposite: NDP wins, economy crashes horribly, everyone blames the dark times on socialist mismanagement (Rae days!), and then we have further decades of conservative rule.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 16:46

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# ? May 15, 2024 04:54

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

You guys are all acting like the NDP will govern competently. :smug:

# ? Aug 22, 2015 16:48

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