$300 Billion?

Believe me, I do try to stay current on matters pertaining to real estate. I read the local , regional and national newspapers and I sadly admit I even watch TV news.

Sure, I've heard about the "mortgage meltdown," as well as everyone else. But...gulp... word from Europe is that the actual number is closer to $300 Billion in write-offs.

"Only a portion has been disclosed," according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris based international entity that helps governments with economic, social and governance issues.

Many major US banking firms including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Swiss Re have estimated losses around $50 billion.

"We still have not hit the worse point in resets, delinquencies and ultimate losses on mortgages," said the O.C.E.D.

Who is telling the truth? Is it $50 Billion or $300 Billion?

For some reason I don't believe the TV air waves, those prime time news shows , or for that matter, most of the print media, are not telling the entire truth.

And then to make matters even less rosy, headline I saw Friday in the Biz section of NYT," Japanese Shift Cash Out of US Investments."

" It isn't a rise in anti-American political fervor. Rather they mean a move away from American investments that is altering global capital flows and helping to weaken the dollar."

"An investor in Japan was quoted" People are saying that engine of the global economy is shifting from the United States to emerging countries."

The Japanese investors are a force to be reckoned with since they invest almost half a Trillion dollars in personal savings outside of Japan in search of higher return! Much of this huge outflow of cash known as "yen carry trade" has gone into US stocks, bonds, or currency propping up the dollar's value."

Is anyone in Washington DC awake?

Bill McInerney, Realtor