I am in Reno today, Spokane tomorrow, but I spent much of last week in Chicago which is very much a melting pot of languages. One can walk down the street and hear similar words for the same thing: Hypothèque (French), hipoteca (Spanish), hipotēka (Latvian), hypotheek (Dutch), and hypothek (German). You’ll have to figure out the word on your own. Renovation there is indicative of what is happening in many other cities: Developers and city agencies in Chicago are working together on the LaSalle Street initiative, which seeks to bring 1,000 homes (including 300 affordable ones) to a mostly shuttered stretch of the city’s financial district. With plenty of people still content to work from home, living in a converted empty office may be the answer to the housing crisis in many areas. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by the STRATMOR Group, the data-driven mortgage advisory. At STRATMOR, insights and knowledge are app
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, traditionally associated with love. But on the opposite side of the spectrum, an Ohio animal shelter is offering to write your ex’s name in a litterbox, and let its adoptable cats “go to town.” Someone there knows good PR. Did you know that some countries never know who won the Super Bowl? As the pre-printed “Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl 2023 Champs” t-shirts are shipped off to places like Guatemala or El Salvador, in this country bond market traders and investors are focused on inflation. The Consumer Price Index report for January is tomorrow and forecast to show a 0.5 percent month-over-month rise with energy prices higher again. The headline year-over-year inflation reading is expected to drop to +6.2 percent from +6.5 percent in December. We probably won’t see inflation back in the 2 percent range unless the labor market softens considerably, and that is not evident. Too much inflation will k
“Thirty years ago, we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs. Today we have no hope, no cash, and no jobs. We are all praying nothing happens to Kevin Bacon.” “Bringing home the bacon” is something that has become strained for tens of thousands in our biz when they lose their job. I’ve been deluged with Wells Fargo folks wanting to change their email to their home email, and while this has always given me insight (in advance, often) into companies closing, to be FTC compliant I don’t actually add emails: sign up personal emails here under the “subscribe” tab. Also, anyone displaced can post their resumes for free here where employers can view them for a nominal $75 fee for several months. Because, hey, there should still be a couple trillion in mortgages originated this year. Hear me out. Are you in debt? Join the crowd. U.S. households’ debt is now $16.5 trillion. Sensationalist headlines aside, it is up about 7 percent