Meet Fannie & Freddie. Cute, aren't they? These two adorable kids guaranty $8.3 trillion worth of mortgages in the United States, which account for roughly 70% of all outstanding home loans. Last…
As a country we have not defaulted on a single debt payment in our 247 year history. Our elected officials probably will come to a debt ceiling resolution before the next self-imposed deadline. The…
The second most important insight into the nation's manufacturing sector was released this morning and the results were better than expected, though that sentence is a little misleading. Manufacturing has been in…
The National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index rose five points to a reading of 50 this morning. The number 50 represents the beginning of optimism for the nation's…
The Empire State Manufacturing Index was reported today at a -31.80, WAY off last month's +10.80 reading. So the production of goods in and around the Big Apple has fallen…
I gotta be honest, when I saw the photo of this super intricate ceiling with its colors, angles, layers, and carvings...I thought of the debt ceiling. The building pictured here…
The cost to produce all monitored goods and services has only risen 2.3% over the last year. That's less than expectations and even lower than last month's 2.7% gain. Excluding food…
In 2021, only 40% of the homes available for sale in the United States was deemed "affordable" by the "typical" household, which seems preposterous since 100% of the population needs somewhere…
I'm sort of sick of writing about inflation and the expectation for interest rates to continue to rise. So I thought that today I'd do a little PSA plug for…
I know just about as much as the next guy about most things--unless that thing is car repairs. I don't do car repairs; I have people. And when the repairs get too burdensome, I'll…
Pending Home Sales, that is, the number of homes that are under contract but not yet closed, rose 8.1% last month. FINALLY. Last month only saw a 1.1% increase and…
Are we getting mixed messages? Yes, yes we are. Again. This week the Consumer Price Index showed that year-over-year inflation at the consumer level dropped from 6.5% to 6.4%. As a consumer, I…
Redfin reported this morning that U.S. homeowners have lost $2.3 trillion in equity since the peak last June. According to Zillow (he who shall not be named?) the combined value of…
A decent selloff on Friday after the Jobs Report was followed by a weaker opening yesterday in the bond trading arena. Mortgage prices moved around a bit on Monday only to finish…
If you want to cook up a really good recession you need three things: negative GDP, negative consumer sentiment, and a negative labor market. There are hordes of other indicators…