Happy New Year and my predictions for 2007
My predictions:
1) I will prevail on appeal against Capital One and Equifax. Capital One will report the credit LIMITS or stop reporting to the CRAs. But creditors and CRAs will continue to implement new ways to artificially lower the credit scores of the people who already have below average scores.
2) Courts will prohibit the submission of credit reports as exhibits by creditors and CRAs unless filed under seal. The general public and criminals have no permissible purpose to view consumer credit reports.
3) Record foreclosures and a lot of idiotic proposals for new laws that won’t be enforced rather than enforcement of existing laws.
Nobody can forecast what will happen with real estate prices, too many unpredictable factors determine whether people will buy homes or wait for lower prices. Obviously, if buyers don’t buy, some sellers will HAVE to sell at much lower prices and that could cause the collapse of the market.
Builders and sellers have been providing incentives such as huge credits at closing and freebie extras, the statistics about sales are not at all representing what’s really going on in the market. Builders have been moving mountains to get deals closed.
The government will encourage banks to lend to anyone who can sign their name (even if it’s just an x) and will continue to allow totally false and illegal advertising of mortgages. We’ll see more “sucker buyers” and horrible loans, resulting in more foreclosures down the road if prices don’t go up again.
4) Record high and low temperatures, droughts, storms, tornadoes, hail, snow, floods—often in unexpected places. You can’t go wrong with that prediction, it’s a given.
5) I still won’t be able to move south of the border, but I’ll get closer and I will learn at least a little Spanish and a lot more about building and alternative power so that I’m ready to build as soon as I find that 100+ acre site for my casita somewhere in the mountains / high desert.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Democrats will accomplish and what will happen in Iraq and Iran.
Most likely, the trends will continue.
Less privacy, more surveillance, fewer rights for individuals—in the name of national security. If too many people make too much noise about it, we’ll have another terrorist attack.
Multi-national mergers, increasing corporate power over legislators, corruption and preemption of state consumer protection laws will continue. Tension in the middle east and other hot spots and the occasional pipeline/refinery accident will keep oil prices fluctuating to ensure record profits for the oil companies and war related corporations (weapons, security, the private contractors).
And most people won’t have a clue what’s going on and they won’t care. Most Americans will be too busy to do a lot of thinking, as they’re working 2 or 3 jobs, raising kids, watching TV and drinking cheap beer.
All in all, the best case scenario for 2007 is that it’ll be like 2006.
