Fri, May 27 2022, 11:07 AM
What guy hasn’t wanted to usher a gal through to a club like Ray Liotta did, masterfully filmed without cutting away? Unfortunately, breaking the spel...
Thu, May 26 2022, 10:36 AM
Yesterday I visited Sacramento to speak to an audience of real estate agents and originators in a joint MGIC/Golden 1 Credit Union event. The mood was...
Wed, May 25 2022, 10:47 AM
All the stories that could be told, and so many that have yet to happen. And now 19 that never will be. It is very hard to go about one’s day, whether...
Tue, May 24 2022, 10:53 AM
The last pay phone was removed from New York City yesterday. (Heck, growing up I financed my baseball card purchases by looking for loose change in th...
Mon, May 23 2022, 10:52 AM
I recently opened my slang dictionary to the page that defined the origin of, “Different ways to skin a cat” and left it near my cat Myrtle’s water bo...
Thu, May 19 2022, 11:13 AM
“One minute you're young and having fun. The next, you're turning down the car stereo to see better.” Gone are the days when all loan officers wanted ...
Wed, May 18 2022, 9:21 AM
As the MBA’s Secondary Marketing Conference wraps up in Manhattan, and the 1,200 or so registered head home and face post-conference life, Rob B. asks...
Tue, May 17 2022, 10:40 AM
Keeping things in perspective, last Thursday the White House announced a raft of measures to alleviate the ongoing baby formula shortage, which has wo...
Mon, May 16 2022, 10:16 AM
Plenty of capital markets folks, senior management, and the usual cadre of vendors are here in Manhattan, doing the macarena until 2AM. Okay, just kid...
Fri, May 13 2022, 9:28 AM
English grammar… what a hassle. Is it "lay" or "lie"? - Are you sure you're using them correctly? “Than” versus “then?” One should use “than” only wit...
Thu, May 12 2022, 8:37 AM
Jobs & transitions Lender & broker software and services Tech Survey: who’s doing what Capital markets: rates drop
Wed, May 11 2022, 9:54 AM
Remember: April is National Procrastination Month! I could tell that my cat Myrtle was displeased the other morning. She’s very secretive about her fi...
Mon, May 9 2022, 9:59 AM
Recently in Reno I overheard someone predict, “Forget Wikipedia. How about someone create ‘Liquorpedia’ with an encyclopedia of alcohol and drink reci...
Fri, May 6 2022, 9:47 AM
Here’s a stream of consciousness paragraph for you. “Rob, what are you hearing about companies laying off, furloughing, right-sizing, whatever, employ...
Thu, May 5 2022, 10:09 AM
Life is complicated. Take the Black Knight purchase by ICE. Some vendors are out there licking their chops at their company’s valuation while others a...
Wed, May 4 2022, 10:11 AM
May the 4th be with you! Without the lisp, there are many forces tugging at lenders and vendors. Forget 2020 and 2021. Recruiters are asking LOs what ...
Tue, May 3 2022, 10:19 AM
With the yield on the risk-free 10-year Treasury note hitting 3 percent for the first time since 2018, you deserve some cutting-edge humor. Two hats w...
Mon, May 2 2022, 11:29 AM
Besides a reminder that it is Teacher Appreciation Week, how about some loan officer humor to lead off Monday? “We’re closing on our house next week. ...
Fri, Apr 29 2022, 11:01 AM
On Sunday, here in Hawai’i, and everywhere else I guess, is Lei Day. I was all set to go down the 5th grade joke path, until I saw this story about na...
Thu, Apr 28 2022, 11:23 AM
While the industry digests Freddie Mac’s first quarter earnings (47 percent purchase, 53 percent refi), if you try to correct my grammar, I will think...
Wed, Apr 27 2022, 11:03 AM
Change is mandatory. Progress is optional. Are signing bonuses a sign of progress? Perhaps not, and more a continued sign of the competitive times. “A...
Tue, Apr 26 2022, 11:07 AM
Running feels great unless you compare it to not running. While here in Northern California for a board meeting, I received, “I read your capital mark...
Mon, Apr 25 2022, 11:42 AM
“I’d listen to their forecasts about as much as I’d listen to Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler dispense advice on monogamy.” Regardless of who this LO was tal...
Thu, Apr 21 2022, 11:36 AM
When you’re working from home, how interesting can next Thursday’s, April 28th, “Take Your Children to Work Day” be? WFH, or hybrid arrangements, is a...
Wed, Apr 20 2022, 11:35 AM
Happy 420 Day. (Tomorrow, by the way, is Happy Surprise Drug Test Day.) Another day, another layoff story from Better.com. The human tragedy in Ukrain...
Tue, Apr 19 2022, 10:18 AM
As the nation ruminates on the court ruling on the mandatory mask mandate, remember, “You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachut...
Mon, Apr 18 2022, 10:58 AM
Notes to start off the week?! First off, there are some darned clever people around, and this ditty (thank you to John H. for sending) sung to “Americ...
Thu, Apr 14 2022, 10:34 AM
It’s Thursday. What should we talk about today? Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter? How about the jump in adjustable-rate locks as evidenced by the MBA’s fig...
Wed, Apr 13 2022, 11:33 AM
I happen to be visiting Manhattan this week. Besides the news about the subway shooting, the overall “hum” of this place being unmistakable and I ment...
Tue, Apr 12 2022, 11:44 AM
I knew it was going to be a rough morning today when my alarm went off and I found my cat Myrtle staring at the computer screen watching Social D’s “D...
Fri, Apr 8 2022, 11:27 AM
The risk-free 2-year Treasury began 2022 yielding .73 and is now at 2.52 percent! Does your company offer 2-1 buydown loans? Do your LOs even know wha...
Thu, Apr 7 2022, 10:12 AM
Today is National Beer Day (beer humor below), which made last night Beer Day’s Eve. Here at the CMLA event the talk is not about all of the craft bre...
Wed, Apr 6 2022, 12:17 PM
Grammar is important. What’s the difference between a kleptomaniac and a literalist? A literalist takes things literally. A kleptomaniac takes things,...
Tue, Apr 5 2022, 11:05 AM
My friend David had his id stolen and now he’s just Dav. Having anything stolen is not a laughing matter, and since we’re in the money business, lende...
Mon, Apr 4 2022, 12:23 PM
“Rob, my capital markets gal eliminated our ability to lock overnight at yesterday’s rates. I think that she’s being unreasonable. Your thoughts?” No,...
Fri, Apr 1 2022, 11:08 AM
I think that we can all agree that in 2017 not a single interviewee got the answer correct to, “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” Heck, pro...
Wed, Mar 30 2022, 10:59 AM
As we edge toward Easter, which isn’t until April 17 this year, the Dallas Fed has released a report on housing prices… have they become unhinged from...
Tue, Mar 29 2022, 11:54 AM
When did “beauty parlors” become “beauty shops” become “salons” and “spas?” Our industry doesn’t have a monopoly on change, and in my recent travels a...
Mon, Mar 28 2022, 8:47 AM
This isn’t a commentary. It’s a “next level experience!” How are we in the week ending the first quarter already? Here’s some news that will be greete...
Fri, Mar 25 2022, 11:08 AM
“A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.” Lenders sometimes grapple with the former, always deal with the latter. In my trave...
Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:57 AM
The state of most commodity prices around the world? Prices are higher. What is the current state of donating blood? I tried donating blood again yest...
Wed, Mar 23 2022, 9:48 AM
Another day of travel, heading to California and its Central Coast. The state has seen its share of house price appreciation, as has the nation, and i...
Tue, Mar 22 2022, 10:37 AM
As packages of mortgage servicing rights continue to hit the market, and some wonder at the high multiples, know that the percentage of borrowers curr...
Mon, Mar 21 2022, 11:43 AM
Today, for yield curve fans, the 3, 5, and 7-year Treasury yields are all above the 10-year yield. But yesterday was the Spring Equinox, aka Vernal Eq...
Fri, Mar 18 2022, 10:50 AM
When did pineapples in shopping carts become a thing (more below)? But I digress… This morning I head to Miami, because isn’t there where most rap vid...
Thu, Mar 17 2022, 10:10 AM
Walking around Memphis yesterday got me to thinking, “I wonder what the part of my brain that used to store people’s phone numbers is doing now.” Mayb...
Wed, Mar 16 2022, 9:59 AM
Let’s face it, women spend more time worrying about what men are actually thinking than men actually spend thinking. While capital markets staffs are ...
Tue, Mar 15 2022, 11:33 AM
At the Ides of March, inflation is pervasive. Today rumors are swirling that Tom Brady ended his retirement because of not being able to afford to ret...
Mon, Mar 14 2022, 11:51 AM
Today’s commentary: 100 percent the truth except for the stuff I make up randomly. I am not making up the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week with tra...
Fri, Mar 11 2022, 10:08 AM
Daylight Saving Time for much of the nation springs up Sunday morning, leading to plenty of grousing on Monday. What else is going on? “Please listen ...
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