Dear Z: Just like last year, I’m writing this letter nine days after your 3rd birthday. The last couple weeks with you starting pre-school have been a huge adjustment. Now I’m sitting here all showered and ready for work in the 6:00am hour, starting this letter, hoping I finish it before you wake up and
September 2011
Dear Z: Just like last year, I’m writing this letter nine days after your 3rd birthday. The last couple weeks with you starting pre-school have been a huge adjustment. Now I’m sitting here all showered and ready for work in the 6:00am hour, starting this letter, hoping I finish it before you wake up and
One of my colleagues Brandon Hoyles sent me this picture of a crowd outside his office last week…
Rates were up .125% last week, rising off record lows touched briefly the week before. Is this the start of a rising trend? Unlikely given weak U.S. economic fundamentals, but volatility will continue as markets reconcile U.S. data with Europe’s debt crisis. Below I cover how Europe affects U.S. rates, recap rates last week and
I’ve had a rough couple writing weeks because other pressing matters have disrupted my daily flow. I just saw a “Writer’s Block” headline from James Altucher fly by on Twitter and thought I’d read it for inspiration, but I’m skipping it for now to remain true to one of my own writing rules. Below I
-Next week’s snapshot below, click image for details. -Fed’s latest rate policies announced after two-day meeting Wednesday 9/21. –WeeklyBasis rate market recap/outlook coming shortly.
-Next week’s snapshot below, click image for details. -Fed’s latest rate policies announced after two-day meeting Wednesday 9/21. –WeeklyBasis rate market recap/outlook coming shortly.
Below are how rates ended the last two weeks. They’re net even over the two-week period: down .125% week ended September 9 then up .125% week ended September 16. Rates shown in three tiers—loans to $417k, loans to $625k, loans to $2m—along with fine print on the rates shown. Reminder: the middle tier of rates
The Economist laid out a plan to save the euro this week, saying that any other alternatives are far worse. Below is a summary of their four-point plan and links to their full stories this week. Both are must-reads. So far Europe has only done #2 of the Economist’s four point plan, as announced last
Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment -Sentiment Index: 57.8. Previous was 55.7. -Better than August, but future outlook lowest since 1980 -This survey index tries to measure consumers’ predisposition to spend. -More from Reuters and TABLE below Also I want to mention that yesterday’s united message from the central banks that they would provide liquidity to
Huge news day with all key data summarized (including charts) in today’s Fundamentals report. Despite rising jobless claims and contracting manufacturing activity, rates are up today for 3 main reasons: (1) Consumer inflation is higher. Rates rise when mortgage bonds sell, and they’re selling today partly because consumer inflation is higher. Inflation makes the future
Initial Jobless Claims -428,000 for the week ended September 10 -Up 11,000 from previous week’s revised 417,000 (was 414k) -4-week moving average 419,500, up 4,000 from previous week -Rising trend continues Consumer Inflation, August -CPI Month/Month +0.4% -CPI Year/Year +3.8% -CPI core (less food & energy) Month/Month +0.2% -CPI core (less food & energy) –
This 45 Lessons Life Taught Me email was forwarded to me by a family member today with a note saying it was written by 90-year-old writer Regina Brett. Not true: she’s 54. But still, the lessons are worth posting for me during a two-week period where things have been particularly challenging. I especially like 13,
It’s very early, but this is my favorite candidate gaffe of the 2012 election so far. Mitt Romney last week talking about his economic plan (video below, starting at 2:00): “It’s about 150 pages with 59 different policy ideas. If you don’t happen to get on in your hand, you can go on Amazon Kindle,
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