Today, 11:54 AM
“Why did the Tibetan Monks go to Las Vegas? They are very good at games of chants.” One topic among hallway chats with lenders here at the MBA Annual ...
Tue, Oct 21 2025, 11:51 AM
“What do Costco and Las Vegas have in common? You go to buy a gallon of milk, and it costs you $285.” There isn’t a lot of autumn foliage here in Las ...
Mon, Oct 20 2025, 11:50 AM
“Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet.” Here at the “MBA Annual,” the puns may not be flying, but there is news bouncing off...
Fri, Oct 17 2025, 11:38 AM
Under the category of careers that are, or will be, impacted, by artificial intelligence, attorneys are inevitably on it. Here’s a tale of a lawyer ca...
Thu, Oct 16 2025, 11:46 AM
“I was gambling in Las Vegas; I took a little risk. Send lawyers, guns, and money, Dad, get me out of this!” Hopefully, no one heading to LV tomorrow ...
Wed, Oct 15 2025, 11:51 AM
While the debate rages on about whether the three colors of candy corn taste different, at the other end of the tech spectrum, lenders are weeding out...
Tue, Oct 14 2025, 11:43 AM
“Where do amputees get prosthetics on a budget? The secondhand store.” Budget, stalemate, and shutdown news continues in Washington DC. The sun still ...
Fri, Oct 10 2025, 11:49 AM
The stalemate & shutdown continue, all but eliminating the government release of economic news. Recall that the U.S. Treasury posted a $345 billion bu...
Thu, Oct 9 2025, 11:46 AM
“Two lawyers walk into a pub. They order a couple of drinks and take subs out of their brief cases. They begin to eat. Seeing this, the angry pub owne...
Wed, Oct 8 2025, 11:50 AM
We’re sailing through autumn. Places like Seattle and Minneapolis are losing 3-5 minutes of sunlight a day. Donald Trump told Congress to end changing...
Tue, Oct 7 2025, 11:45 AM
President Trump has recommended that publicly held companies only report earnings every six months instead of every three. Don’t stockholders deserve ...
Mon, Oct 6 2025, 11:45 AM
Often the economy and general business trends are separate from management and business acumen. Like Block Buster, which at the high point had over 9,...
Fri, Oct 3 2025, 11:46 AM
Here in Telluride, CO, after learning of my capital markets background, yesterday someone bluntly asked me, “Can one person slow or stop the United St...
Thu, Oct 2 2025, 11:47 AM
We’re two days into the 4th quarter of the 2025, two days into another government shutdown, and… companies are relishing their September numbers. I ha...
Wed, Oct 1 2025, 11:09 AM
Come on… you don’t believe politics and mortgages are separate? Look at politicized government housing agencies: whoever is running HUD, whether it is...
Tue, Sep 30 2025, 11:46 AM
“Why do millennials think the government saved their lives? Because they are indebted to it forever.” Here in Colorado, the United States federal gove...
Mon, Sep 29 2025, 11:51 AM
Here in Colorado, banking, credit unions, and independent mortgage banks are a solid part of the economic fabric. LOs here and everywhere are scrambli...
Fri, Sep 26 2025, 11:48 AM
Call them wretched or call them splendid, in Japan, robots and service bots run some restaurants and are indeed taking the place of humans, who have n...
Thu, Sep 25 2025, 11:45 AM
“I just won $10 in the lottery! The 7-11 clerk wanted to sell me a $10 lottery ticket in Atlanta. I said no.” Hopefully most people realize that a lot...
Wed, Sep 24 2025, 11:52 AM
“Yesterday I was devastated to learn that the 2025 Psychic Prediction Convention was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.” Yesterday, while the ...
Tue, Sep 23 2025, 11:47 AM
At recent conferences I’ve attended, including here in Atlanta at the Loan Vision Innovation Conference, talk of federal government partisanship, post...
Fri, Sep 19 2025, 11:44 AM
In China, red symbolizes prosperity, protection, and welcoming energy, and so is a popular front door color for occupants, especially when facing sout...
Thu, Sep 18 2025, 11:48 AM
JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, PNC Bank, N.A. and others announced a decrease in its prime lending rate to 7.25 percent, ...
Wed, Sep 17 2025, 11:41 AM
Today I find myself in Vancouver, WA, splendid in the autumn, to meet with various mortgage folks and especially the Banner Bank mortgage crew, coveri...
Tue, Sep 16 2025, 11:49 AM
My cat Myrtle was always up for a battle with a lizard in the yard. On a larger scale, the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said, “Every battle is ...
Mon, Sep 15 2025, 11:53 AM
“Someone posted that they had just made synonym buns. I replied, ‘You mean just like the ones that grammar used to make?’ I am now blocked.” That was ...
Fri, Sep 12 2025, 11:38 AM
“Rob, we’ve said ‘no’ to more expansion possibilities than ever before. Are you hearing other lenders doing deep dives on LOs and branches and also no...
Thu, Sep 11 2025, 11:41 AM
“All I know is what I read in the papers,” Will Rogers quipped. In news in the papers from our Census Bureau, AI use at large companies is in decline....
Wed, Sep 10 2025, 11:46 AM
“Rob, I hate it when mom and dad fight. Will this Pulte/Bessent, FHFA/Treasury tussle impact mortgage rates?” Probably not; it hasn’t so far. Director...
Tue, Sep 9 2025, 11:42 AM
Tomorrow I head from Boise to Jackson for the Mississippi Mortgage Banker’s Fall Conference. Certainly a topic in my email in-box and at events is how...
Mon, Sep 8 2025, 11:43 AM
“When the economy is good, people drink. When the economy is bad, people drink. The moral? Invest in alcohol.” Here in Boise at the PNMLC, the comment...
Fri, Sep 5 2025, 11:29 AM
The Fed looks at Twitter to gauge the financial sentiment out there? Yes: TFSI! The Federal Reserve certainly finds itself in a maelstrom these days… ...
Thu, Sep 4 2025, 11:46 AM
“Apparently you can’t use ‘beef stew’ as a password. It’s not stroganoff.” How’s your privacy? Or another question: Why wouldn’t you tell your recent ...
Wed, Sep 3 2025, 11:40 AM
“Twas the third of September, the day I’ll always remember… Wherever he laid his hat was his home, and when he died, all he left us was a loan…” Okay,...
Tue, Sep 2 2025, 11:37 AM
What’s old is new again? In Vermont, one man is refurbishing payphones for people to use for free. Very cool. Debt isn’t old or new, but how we treat ...
Fri, Aug 29 2025, 10:17 AM
“The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.” Proportionality is important, whether in a restaurant or in a lender watchi...
Thu, Aug 28 2025, 8:57 AM
“Remember how when you were little you could just rip off your diaper and run around naked and everyone thought it was so cute and funny? Anyway, I ne...
Wed, Aug 27 2025, 11:43 AM
I was today years old when I realized that the shovel was literally a groundbreaking invention. The best ads and marketing focus on rates and products...
Tue, Aug 26 2025, 10:19 AM
There are some “big-hitters” in the mortgage, finance, and housing world who will tell you that the Trump Administration’s plan to sell shares in Fann...
Fri, Aug 22 2025, 8:49 AM
A few years back someone told me, “Two lenders merging in this environment is like two drunks outside a bar holding each other up.” That isn’t quite t...
Wed, Aug 20 2025, 11:35 AM
“I asked a German girl if Germans are afraid of numbers. She said 9!” Numbers make up the bond market, and a steeper yield curve (the difference betwe...
Tue, Aug 19 2025, 11:53 AM
14 fonts Apologies first! Yesterday I mistakenly wrote, “ARMs now account for nearly 50 percent of applications…” Thank you again to those who wrote,...
Mon, Aug 18 2025, 10:37 AM
As I type this, I’m at the doctor’s office, and some guy a few seats over is booing all the names being called that aren’t his. Do you boo the product...
Fri, Aug 15 2025, 11:45 AM
“The difference between me and Superman is that he has super vision. I require supervision.” We’re halfway through the third quarter: Will your compan...
Thu, Aug 14 2025, 11:42 AM
“I somehow managed to make it through high school math while only being able to remember even numbers. What are the odds?!” As the California MBA’s We...
Wed, Aug 13 2025, 11:42 AM
I received this note from Dallas. “I like ‘dillos, but I don’t support giving them guns because... I would never armadillo.” Speaking of which, Texas ...
Tue, Aug 12 2025, 11:46 AM
“Nothing refreshes my memory about what I need at the grocery store like coming home from the grocery store.” Remember adjustable-rate mortgages? Here...
Mon, Aug 11 2025, 11:48 AM
About 25 miles to the north of the California MBA’s Western Secondary, a mobile robotic microfactory is building fire-resistant homes in Palisades Fir...
Fri, Aug 8 2025, 11:52 AM
People gearing up for the Western Secondary in Southern California see that “technology” is on the agenda. (Of course, it is always on every agenda, r...
Thu, Aug 7 2025, 11:51 AM
We’re back traveling and packing for the plethora of conferences. Packing and intellect sometimes collide: for the life of me, I can’t seem to grasp t...
