Wed, Jan 18 2012, 11:29 AM
Home builder confidence rose in January
for the fourth consecutive month as builders saw more buyer traffic and
anticipated higher sales. The Nati...
Tue, Jan 17 2012, 9:48 AM
The
Federal Budget and National Debt numbers are so large that it's often difficult
to get a grasp of just exactly how much money is being discussed...
Wed, Jan 4 2012, 10:17 AM
Any ship
can be a minesweeper - once. But not "once in a while." This note
reached me: "Rob, every once in a while you'll mention 'AOT' like everyon...
Tue, Jan 3 2012, 11:10 AM
The U.S.
Census Bureau projected the Jan. 1, 2012, total United States population at
312,780,968. This would represent an increase of 2,250,129, or ...
Wed, Dec 21 2011, 11:17 AM
If you
have a few minutes, and want to learn more about our economy ("One recent
survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be abl...
Tue, Dec 20 2011, 10:38 AM
I f you
have trouble finding something for that special person who has everything, how
about a new chia pet.
The old
saying, "Give a man a...
Tue, Dec 20 2011, 10:15 AM
Building permits issued in November were
up 5.7 percent from the number issued in October according to joint data
released this morning by the U....
Tue, Dec 20 2011, 8:29 AM
Bond markets are slightly weaker overnight following a fairly uneventful European session. 10yr yields rose roughly 5bps to 1.85 and S&P futures adde...
Mon, Dec 19 2011, 10:59 AM
If you
have a few seconds, go to Google and do a search on "Let it snow."
There's even a "defrost" button.
I am sure that many originators wish...
Mon, Dec 19 2011, 10:03 AM
Homebuilders are more optimistic than they've been about single-family home sales in a year and a half according to a report released today by the Na...
Thu, Dec 1 2011, 11:06 AM
Sometimes
in the financial markets there is just too much going on to comprehend. For
example, yesterday the Fed (the U.S. Central Bank), in conjun...
Mon, Nov 21 2011, 4:31 PM
Freddie Mac's November Economic Outlook
holds some good news for the economy as a whole, but the housing picture
remains relatively bleak. Thir...
Fri, Nov 18 2011, 1:28 PM
Fannie Mae's November Economics and
Mortgage Market Analysis released this morning cites the depressed sentiments
from the Conference Board consume...
Thu, Nov 17 2011, 11:44 AM
Building permits were issued at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 653,000 in October, 10.9 percent above the downwardly
revised (from 594,000) S...
Thu, Nov 17 2011, 11:01 AM
One week
until Thanksgiving - time flies. What's in a name? Plenty. For example, the
name of the Athletic Director at the University of Texas is DeL...
Mon, Nov 14 2011, 10:10 AM
Let's say
that you have a warehouse line with Bank
of America , or anyone else for that matter. You come into work and either
the line is frozen, ...
Wed, Nov 2 2011, 11:31 AM
Following
the tragic death of the Human Cannonball at the Springfield Autumn Fair, a
spokesman said "We'll struggle to get another man of the same
...
Tue, Nov 1 2011, 10:59 AM
Seven
billion is a lot of people. I guess that's about how many of us there are in
the world: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515 .
(And no, ...
Thu, Oct 20 2011, 12:05 PM
Here is a
notable take on Realtors, for better or worse, titled " Five Rules to
Remember When Dealing with Real Estate Agents " .
Have you
comm...
Wed, Oct 19 2011, 10:31 AM
Men have
always wanted a manual for women. (I am sure somehow, that just like the
manuals for cell phones and cameras, we'd flip through and look fo...
Wed, Oct 19 2011, 8:47 AM
U.S. markets were little moved overnight as investors digest earnings, await new inflation and housing data, and examine possible outcomes for Europe'...
Wed, Oct 19 2011, 1:33 PM
Privately-owned housing starts in
September rose 15.0 percent above starts in August to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 658,000 units. Accordi...
Mon, Oct 17 2011, 10:43 AM
For bank closures on Friday, and I am simplifying
things, in NC the depositors of Blue Ridge Savings Bank were warmly embraced by
Bank of North Ca...
Thu, Oct 6 2011, 2:46 PM
Twenty-three metropolitan areas are now
listed on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American
Improving Markets Index (IMI) re...
Mon, Oct 3 2011, 11:04 AM
Well, here
we are. The sun managed to come up (so far at least on the East Coast) after
the temporary loan limits weren't extended. On Oct. 1, the s...
Tue, Sep 27 2011, 3:39 PM
Freddie Mac's September 2011 Economic Outlook is focused on the recent Federal Reserve Bank announcement of its Maturity
Extension Program (aka Ope...
Tue, Sep 20 2011, 10:54 AM
It used to
be that people who walked down the street arguing with nobody there were deemed
"crazy". When cellphones first got overly popular, my mo...
Tue, Sep 20 2011, 8:30 AM
Markets are a little more upbeat this morning as Treasuries reverse course from Monday and equity futures prepare for a rebound after shedding nearly ...
Tue, Sep 20 2011, 2:13 PM
Building permits ( charts ) were issued in August
at a 3.2 percent higher rate than in July, but housing starts ( chart ) fell even further
than e...
Mon, Sep 19 2011, 11:46 AM
Welcome to
Talk Like a Pirate Day. Of course, 3.14159...% of sailors are Pi Rates.
Yesterday through next Sunday is "National Singles Week", sta...
Mon, Aug 29 2011, 10:32 AM
An IT
person is someone who understands this joke: "The definition of 'Installation
routine': A process employed by many applications to overwrite a...
Wed, Aug 17 2011, 9:04 AM
We're in
the middle of baseball season, and here's a non-mortgage video that has people
saying, "No way": BatterUp!
Small banks can still origi...
Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:52 AM
The
winner of the "pot calling the kettle black" award for this week goes
to U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, who was calling for fiscal responsibility in
Was...
Tue, Aug 16 2011, 8:02 AM
Benchmark Treasury yields ticked higher yesterday in a quiet trading environment as stocks rallied for the third straight session. The 10-year note w...
Tue, Aug 16 2011, 2:03 PM
Housing starts in July fell from June
figures but still came in well ahead of predictions. According to information released by the U.S.
Census Bu...
Mon, Aug 15 2011, 10:33 AM
A man
walks into a psychiatrist's office wearing only underwear made of Saran Wrap.
The psychiatrist says, 'Well, I can clearly see your nuts." Anyo...
Mon, Aug 1 2011, 10:09 AM
"I
had amnesia once--or maybe twice." One's mental health is nothing to joke
about, and long days can make folks pretty sleepy (just ask any West Co...
Tue, Jul 26 2011, 10:15 AM
Today
marks the 21st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities
Act, which guarantees "equal opportunity for people with disabili...
Mon, Jul 25 2011, 2:21 PM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Mortgage Market Analysis for
July describes second quarter economic data received so far as "discouraging," and
forec...
Fri, Jul 22 2011, 11:55 AM
Here's a
Planning & Scheduling Algorithm for any company: "Choose two: Good,
Fast, Cheap."
An
apparent consequence of Dodd Frank, MetLife ...
Wed, Jul 20 2011, 10:41 AM
"If
I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell." So spoke
Civil War General Philip Sheridan, who was the military governor of T...
Tue, Jul 19 2011, 9:36 AM
"What does the mummy do when
he goes to the bookstore? He gets all wrapped up in a good book!" But in
three headlines from last night, a paradigm s...
Tue, Jul 19 2011, 3:57 PM
Driven by a dramatic rise in
multi-family construction, U.S. housing jumped unexpectedly to of an annualized
rate of 629,000 housing units in June. ...
Mon, Jul 18 2011, 9:26 AM
"Texting
is like intellectually roaming free in a cul-de-sac." Feel free to quote
Ralph Nader on that one.
Five-time
Jeopardy winner Rich Cordr...
Mon, Jul 18 2011, 2:21 PM
Two press releases that came out on
Monday may point to a new direction for the residential construction market and
perhaps for housing policy.
H...
Thu, Jun 23 2011, 2:11 PM
The Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development have
released New
Residential Sales data for May 2011.
New Residential Sal...
Mon, Jun 20 2011, 4:02 PM
At the second anniversary of the current
economic expansion, housing remains stuck in a rut according to Fannie Mae's
Economic Outlook for June ...
Thu, Jun 16 2011, 12:10 PM
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development
have released New Residential Construction statistics for May 2011.
...
Thu, Jun 16 2011, 9:46 AM
The idea of Father's Day was conceived
slightly more than a century ago, not by Hallmark Card or Weber Grills, but by
Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash...
Thu, Jun 16 2011, 8:39 AM
The Eurodebt crisis continued to create chaos in overnight trading. Here's the headlines that moved the needle...
(Reuters) - ECB's Wellink ca...
