quick hits, rates and reality

It's good to see that rates have come back down. As predicted, they will go up and swing back down. It's just harsh and sometimes scary to see how violently they can swing these days. As anyone who's working with us currently, we've just experienced a half a point swing in rates. luckily we're back to where most borrowers started. it's just a wild ride and i encourage you to jump on but buckle your seat belts :) !!

And now for reality. Not REALTY, but reality. I had a long conversation with my brother in law who is a higher up in major east coast diner chain. Quality resturant with upper diner food and costs. Not a Waffle House but not a Jeri's deli. Bottom line is that they're a good representation for what America is. And we spoke about how business is slow. The reality is that Main street still seems to be suffering while Wall street is talking about recovery. I don't know if this is just the nature of the world and the money will trickle down eventually but people are still broke.

We're all watching our money closer these days. I think if there is any sentiment that people are going by, it would be acceptance. Everyone knows we in hard economic times. There is no one thinking that they're imune to what's going on. With acceptance many people are not as scared to spend some money. Hell, eventually you have to buy stuff. It just now people are more picky on what they buy and when they'll buy it. And if you go out for a nice expensive dinner, you're probably bringing in lunch to the office the rest of the week. Don't be fooled, acceptance isn't the same as recovery. I feel that the pundits we see on TV and the internet report from the view of Wall Street who hasn't missed a beat. They've got government money to play with.

As for the mortgage business and rates, all we can do is jump onto the roller coaster and hope we can jump off at the lowest points. We've seen a half a point swing up and down on rates this last month.

ups and downs

The Bear is back. Sorry for the delay.

Let's not waste time, let's get to work. First off, here is a quick link that just repeats everything that I've been saying for the past 2 months.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/get-ready-to-pounce-on-lower-mortgage-rates

the bottom line is that the Market is crazy. I don't think anyone knows what they're doing and there is no clear answer or direction. It seems that even the people in the Fed that are supposed to be steering the ship are just hanging on to make sure we don't capsize.

I feel that we are in for a drop in the market and for news and REALITY peak its head. I don't know of one person or company that is doing well. I feel for every "good" economic indicator there are even more bad ones that are not talked about as much. For instance today it was said that the number of unemployment claims dropped, the fact is that new claims rose but people currently on unemployment have dropped mainly because their time was up. It's not like thousands of people got jobs last week. Their 12 months or 24 months or whatever the time frame they are under is up. That being said, yes there are less people on unemployment and now more that still don't have jobs and will be getting nothing. This should lead to more problems. Not very "good" after all, is it?

At least we can say, Go Lakers!!! Perfect scene yesterday. Ending the parade at the Coliseum is just like the government did during Greek times. Keep the masses in check by throwing a big party for them to go to. People must be out of work to have 500k+ show up on a Wednesday.