Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Freddie Mac Needs A Vocabulary Lesson

The following is an advertisement from Freddie Mac. It appears on the back cover of the current issue of National Review.



savings (noun)
1. A fund of money put by as a reserve.

nest egg (noun)
1. Slang for money saved, often in a savings account, in preparation for retirement or other significant use.

wealth (noun)
1. An abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches.
2. The state of being rich; affluence.

debt (noun)
1. The state of owing something.
2. Money or goods or services owed by one person to another.
3. An obligation to pay or do something.

Wealth may include your home, however, homeownership does not necessarily equal wealth. The fact that you may have equity in your home does not mean you are wealthy either, however the unpaid portion of your mortgage most certainly means you are in debt. How can Freddie Mac get away with advertisements like these?

The American Consumer is being duped into believing assuming outrageous levels of mortgage debt is the road to wealth. Freddie seems to be saying that it's OK for you to have half your savings tied up in your home. After all, it's your nest egg and everyone else is doing it too! I can't get over what a dumb ad this is, and I can't believe people are falling for the newspeak. Freddie, we're not buying it.. We're not going to put all our eggs in one basket. The higher we elevate this concept, the harder it's going to fall..

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.


14 Comments:

Blogger Metroplexual said...

RentinginNJ said...
Grim,

Please check your email. I sent you a copy of the Harper's article. It goes well with this posting (i.e. debt = wealth)

Is it online? If not please post it grim.

5/09/2006 12:45:00 PM  
Blogger Metroplexual said...

I saw the same add and had the same reaction. I would also add that there analogy is interesting because the sentiment is fed by the bubble and peoples perceptions of the wealth effect. Don't count your chickens till your eggs hatch or in this case don't count your equity until the bubble deflates.

5/09/2006 12:59:00 PM  
Blogger grim said...

Those interested in the Harpers article please email me at:

nnjbubble@gmail.com

Put the word "Harpers" in the subject line. I'll respond with a link to the article.

grim

5/09/2006 03:18:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The head ponzi mtg schemer

5/09/2006 04:14:00 PM  
Blogger chicagofinance said...

FYI - the title is [purposely]related to a famous book written by a brilliant economist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom

5/09/2006 04:20:00 PM  
Blogger grim said...

FOMC Meeting Tomorrow.

Any predictions for changes in the statement?

5/09/2006 04:44:00 PM  
Blogger Metroplexual said...

grim,
the FOMC will hike it up again .25 with alot of ambiguity as to where it will go next. Bens learned his lesson after being spanked by Bartiromo.

5/09/2006 05:47:00 PM  
Blogger David said...

amen brother amen.

David
Bubble Meter Blog

5/09/2006 06:44:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Last one in will have a rotten nest egg.

5/09/2006 07:41:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Making home possible"--what an perfectly idiotic, fatuous phrase.
"Making the housing bubble possible, by injecting excessive liquidity in the market" would be more truthful.

5/09/2006 08:12:00 PM  
Blogger chicagofinance said...

The only changes in the statement will reflect Bernanke's style.

Otherwise - regardless of whatever these media clowns say - there will be no message implied.

I think that the stock market is in for a rude awakening. By the end of the year, we have a legitimate shot at staring down the double-6's - as in, 6% Fed Funds and a 6% Ten.

chicago

5/09/2006 09:13:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BOYCOTT HOUSES!

Go on vacation and forget about the starving realtors and desperate in denial sellers.

The Fair weather realtors will now switch their alliances to buyers.

Wait.
Prices will be tumbling in latter part 2006 beginning 2007.

Booooooyaaaaaaa

Bob

5/10/2006 06:20:00 AM  
Blogger chicagofinance said...

First take - no surprise - yawn

5/10/2006 01:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have been following a site now for almost 2 years and I have found it to be both reliable and profitable. They post daily and their stock trades have been beating
the indexes easily.

Take a look at Wallstreetwinnersonline.com

RickJ

5/18/2006 04:22:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home