The Chicago 77

12 November 2010 – Since this week was much like the last few, I figured that would spice things up with a musical interlude. Because I cannot sing well enough to do this justice, I would ask that you use some good imagination. Hooked on Some Easing (Sung to Hooked on a Feeling) buy real […]

5 November 2010 – The past week was an exciting one. First, there were the mid-term elections with all of the drama of a Mexican soap opera and the negativity of homeless curmudgeon yelling at you on an El platform. This, however, paled in comparison to the much anticipated announcement of QE or quantitative easing […]

29 Oct 2010 – The past week once again gave me pause as to the duality of my job. Pricing for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage loans increased slightly over the prior week. For that, I shed a tear, since this can put some drag on the very robust refinance market. This movement, however, […]

22 October 2010 –As I began writing this week’s commentary, I realized I had exhausted my analogies for the ebb and flow of rates we have seen over the past months. That is until I thought back over the years to my Junior Year at West Point standing in a platform above a Long Island […]

15 October 2010 – The cost of mortgages took a minor beating this week after several days of favorable movement. You will notice that I refer to cost as opposed to rate. This is because rates moved little if at all, but rather the points required to secure the best rates increased and available surplus […]

08 October 2010 – October surely has started out with a bang. This not the bang that you get when you light a firecracker and sit with anticipation of the inevitable glorious explosion. No, this is more like the unexpected bang that you get when someone secretly lights a firecracker under your chair. In short, […]

01 October 2010 – For a week chock full of economic data, the trends this week generally matched those of the previous weeks. Early in the week, low numbers for consumer confidence brought rates to near record lows again for a short time, but this passed and positive news on consumer spending and unemployment numbers. […]

24 September 2010 – There is a training aid used for astronauts called the Vomit Comet. It is an airplane that moves on an elliptical path to simulate a weightless environment. In short, it basically moves up and down to keep the occupants in a suspended state. This is the best comparison that I can […]

17 September 2010 – This was a hectic week for mortgages, but not necessarily in the rate category. Rates once again skipped along the recent mean but generally ended the week flat. The action was actually on the lender side as demand for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance loans increased to a fever pitch […]

10 September 2010 – Since last week’s use of Einstein’s quote was so well received, I thought it appropriate to begin this week’s commentary with a quote from the venerable Yogi Berra. Yogi remarked after seeing back-to-back home runs by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris that it was “déjà vous all over again.” Such was […]

3 September 2010 – Einstein once said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’S relativity.” This concept is very important to this commentary as relativity is the guiding principal from which […]

27 August 2010 – For those of you that did not read or heed my post last week, congratulations. You have received a reprieve on low rates. Continued abysmal housing data released this week reinforced the belief that we are far from turning the corner on our current economic woes. Existing home sales dropped by […]

20 August 2010 – Well folks, we may have hit the bottom, at least in the short-term that is. Rates ticked a bit lower than last week Monday and Tuesday, but began a mild movement upward by the middle of the week. This slight change was likely less the result of economic factors than the […]