Wed, Mar 31 2021, 10:54 AM
What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Short. (There’s the cutting-edge wit this commentary is known for!) Time can play tricks on ...
Tue, Mar 30 2021, 11:14 AM
The demand for shipping on the Suez Canal never stopped. (Do you think this conversation ever took place on the bridge of the Ever Given? “I bet you c...
Mon, Mar 29 2021, 10:22 AM
Today's audio version of the commentary is always available. (This week’s, sponsored by The STRATMOR Group, has a short interview with me today on how...
Fri, Mar 26 2021, 10:39 AM
I just finished my weekly 3 minute “abs of steel” workout, and it’s time for a rant! A wealth tax? How does the Federal government pull that off? Is a...
Thu, Mar 25 2021, 10:16 AM
After spending millions of dollars studying the issue, a blue-ribbon panel found that statistics show that teen pregnancy drops dramatically after age...
Wed, Mar 24 2021, 11:16 AM
My cat Myrtle is not a huge basketball fan. And she certainly wasn’t interested in my idea recently to find fifteen people willing to pony up $1 milli...
Tue, Mar 23 2021, 10:47 AM
Are you looking for signs of the times? The Wall Street Journal, along with supermarket flyers everywhere, tells us that there are more real-estate ag...
Mon, Mar 22 2021, 10:31 AM
Is your business interest rate independent? Are you girding your loins? How is your overhead? If lenders are selling into the same MBS market, executi...
Thu, Mar 18 2021, 10:11 AM
The Internal Revenue Service is not known for being creative, but yesterday it was announced that the usual tax deadline of 4/15 has been moved to 5/1...
Wed, Mar 17 2021, 9:17 AM
Many years ago I asked my father about why we didn’t have a home gym. He replied, “Want exercise? Jog to the liquor store and get me a beer, then do a...
Tue, Mar 16 2021, 10:30 AM
Time flies. Ringo is 80!? I bet he’s done some vacationing in the last 60 years. I gave my wife a dart and a poster of a world map and told her, “Thro...
Mon, Mar 15 2021, 10:01 AM
Here we are at the Ides of March: only two weeks until the end of the 1st quarter! The time is flying by and time is precious. Last night I slept on t...
Fri, Mar 12 2021, 9:56 AM
A year ago… remember when you couldn’t find toilet paper for sale? Now you can’t find a house for sale. But there are plenty of Agency MBS and other d...
Thu, Mar 11 2021, 11:24 AM
With all the hundreds of thousands of borrowers around the nation left to refinance, lenders are understandably concerned about mortgage rates creepin...
Wed, Mar 10 2021, 10:02 AM
Today I head off on a business trip to Georgia for a few days, which reminded me that yesterday’s commentary had some state facts. As expected, people...
Tue, Mar 9 2021, 9:56 AM
Does anyone agree on anything anymore? In the past, state trivia was fun because everyone agreed on it. No one will disagree that Alaska is the northe...
Mon, Mar 8 2021, 9:43 AM
Let’s start the week with a gaggle of questions. Do you feel old knowing that Taylor Swift is older than the four Beatles were when they broke up? Hav...
Fri, Mar 5 2021, 9:59 AM
In the legal field, virtual litigation is thought to be here to stay, vaccine or no vaccine. And as the pandemic continues, and remote hiring continue...
Thu, Mar 4 2021, 9:56 AM
Welcome to the only day where the date is a command. Owners of shopping malls wish they could command everyone to go shopping in one. When was the las...
Wed, Mar 3 2021, 10:52 AM
To listen to the audio version of today’s commentary with an interview with STRATMOR Group’s resident recovering accountant Jim Cameron on handy metri...
Tue, Mar 2 2021, 10:18 AM
As a kid, magic tricks are amazing because we think there is magic. As an adult, magics tricks are amazing because we know there is no magic. Lenders ...
Mon, Mar 1 2021, 9:36 AM
With the jump up in mortgage rates Thursday, and the move back down Friday, a few lock desk personnel wrote to me over the weekend asking about ways o...
Fri, Feb 26 2021, 9:28 AM
Huh? Rates don’t continually go down and then stay there for an indefinite period of time? No, they don’t. There’s this opinion piece in the Wall Stre...
Thu, Feb 25 2021, 10:44 AM
As hope for a recovery drawing nearer helps push rates higher, Carol K. writes, “I hate it when people ask me what I do for fun because there is no cl...
Wed, Feb 24 2021, 9:02 AM
There’s a cost to staying at home as much as we do. I went to the doctor the other day. She told me, “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news i...
Tue, Feb 23 2021, 10:56 AM
(To listen to the audio version of today’s commentary, please click here .) Being home schooled was the goodest thing I ever did! Disparities in mortg...
Fri, Feb 19 2021, 9:15 AM
(To listen to the audio version of today’s commentary, please click here .) I received many nice comments about the section in yesterday’s commentary ...
Thu, Feb 18 2021, 10:36 AM
Welcome to 124-year-old Girl Scout Cookie Season ! If you’re an LO, how’d you like to deal with borrowers for 189 years, or eat the same thing day aft...
Wed, Feb 17 2021, 9:47 AM
Time flies. President Biden extended FHA & VA mortgage relief and the ban on home foreclosures through June . Did you know that, at 46, Leonardo DiCap...
Tue, Feb 16 2021, 9:45 AM
Despite the lousy weather in many parts of the nation, and Mardi Gras being cancelled, the year is off to a fine start for lenders, and borrowers bene...
Fri, Feb 12 2021, 9:42 AM
Lending and real estate are permanently linked. On the mortgage side of things, the podcast of today’s commentary features thoughts on the $1.5 billio...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 9:18 AM
I’ve never set foot on a Lear Jet, but was not excited to hear the iconic product ceasing production. Freddie Mac’s 4 th quarter results are pretty ex...
Wed, Feb 10 2021, 9:51 AM
Here we are in the seemingly 58 th week of 2020. What’s new? The podcast of today’s commentary features thoughts from the Millennial host on how lende...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 9:13 AM
Yesterday I flubbed up by discussing the Administration’s proposal to eliminate credit unions and have the CFPB control the credit process . The artic...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 9:27 AM
A Pennsylvania man is suing Smart Water for not making him smart, and here, in this Commentary, I’d like to formally announce my lawsuit against Thin ...
Fri, Feb 5 2021, 5:30 PM
Guys around the nation have nine days to forget that nine days from now is Valentine’s Day, and florists everywhere have already ordered roses (in the...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:45 AM
Making headlines is United Wholesale averaging $15 billion a month in production and earning total net income of $3.4 billion for 2020 , quite a chang...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:31 AM
Companies and organizations around the nation are wondering about when in-person conferences will become the norm again. While they’re wondering about...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 10:49 AM
Okay boys and girls, besides it being a snow day in the Northeast, and Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil's 135th prognostication, here is today’s sh...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:01 AM
January’s already in the rearview mirror and our industry is keeping an eye on all kinds of things. Like silent movies moving into “the Talkies” in 19...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 10:20 AM
One should never stop learning. For example, I just began reading a great book: “How to Cook Crack and Clean a Crab.” Step One: Use commas. I learned ...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 10:33 AM
The stock price of American Airlines back to February 2020 levels. Investors seem to be “buying hope.” In Mortgage Land, though I am beginning to hear...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:18 AM
Just a couple more weeks until my uncle sends me a text asking if I’ve seen these funny photos of Bernie Sanders , of which there are no shortage. The...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:55 AM
While the Biden Administration waits for the Trump staff to tell them the Wi-Fi password in the White House, the government continues to occupy our th...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 10:35 AM
There’s always “stuff” going on in residential lending, right? Capital markets folks have noticed that the big banks are re-entering buying jumbo loan...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 9:59 AM
This week Joe Exotic did not receive a presidential pardon, nor did mortgage rates move much versus last week, but there are still over 16 million ref...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:49 AM
In his Saturday Morning Cup of Joe , Jeremy Potter quipped, “The word ‘homeowners’ has the word ‘meow’ in it. Good luck unseeing that from now on.” Pl...
Tue, Jan 19 2021, 11:03 AM
Sometimes running a mortgage compliance department can seem like this short clip Indiana’s Carol K. sent along. Yet there is value in compliance, and ...
Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:02 AM
As Flagstar’s Marcus L. points out, “1999 doesn't sound like that long ago until you realize that people with a birth year starting with ‘2’ are start...
Thu, Jan 14 2021, 9:20 AM
With the money I’m saving on “Dry January,” I was able to buy some great edibles at the dispensary yesterday. “Come on, come on, listen to the money t...
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