Financial Sarcasm Roundup for 06/03/13

I do exactly what I say I'm going to do.  I see financial stuff, I round it up, and I get sarcastic about it all.

China is now Iraq's biggest oil customer.  This is one of those no-kidding things that should have part of the forecast prior to the US withdrawal from Iraq.  The message to the world is that bad things happen when the US comes into your country and good things happen when China comes in.  The downside for Iraq is that China will soon be printing inflated currency to pay for Iraqi oil.  Oh, so will we.

China's property prices keep rising.  Maybe China could do an in-kind trade of real estate for Iraqi oil.  I don't think Iraqis are dumb enough to take that trade.  No investor would want to be stuck with overpriced  bursts, except of course newly urbanized Chinese who will pay anything for what the believe is a step up from a farm.

We have some pretty dumb real estate investors here in San Francisco.  Home prices in The City are way up so far in 2013, although they are nowhere near their 2006 highs.  I'm looking to buy some property myself but not at these prices.  Homes are not at fair value until they're a low multiple of the median income for a given MSA.  I'm not buying anything at a premium to fair value.

I just have to note that one particular Stolen Valor fraud may be cooking up some more websites.  I just can't wait to see them when they're ready.  I also can't wait to watch a long string of honest people testify against him in court.  They'll do exactly what they say they're going to do.

Send Fannie Mae To Iraq

Good news!  Your (okay, our) government isn't going to lose as much money on Fannie Mae this quarter as it usually does in most quarters.  That's great!  This postpones the U.S. government's eventual bond default by a few nanoseconds. 

Bad news.  :-(  This is the same government that can't account for another government's oil money.  Iraq's oil revenue must have disappeared into thin air.  Oops!  Sorry about that, Iraqi kids.  You'll have to go without electricity in your elementary schools for a few more years.  Better luck next time. 

Let's implement the obvious solution.  Fannie Mae's accountants should have been running the Iraq oil trust accounts from the get-go.  Deploy them immediately to recover the dough from wherever it went. 

Full disclosure:  No position in FNM.