by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Internet BS made from twisted headlines is fun to spread. But reality is a lot more interesting.
The social media and comment sections, including the illustrious WOLF STREET comments, are afire again with another headline, based on a headline in the Wall Street Journal that is being twisted, contorted, and spread by people who refused to even read the first paragraph. The meme is that PE firm Blackstone Group bought 17,000 houses for $6 billion, outbidding regular people, and thereby making it impossible for regular people to buy those houses amid a red-hot housing market.
Alas, what gorgeous ridiculous internet BS! Blackstone didn’t go around the US grabbing 17,000 houses, outbidding regular mom-and-pop buyers with its $6 billion war chest. On the contrary.