Let’s have a non-mortgage opening paragraph. Today is “Remember Pearl Harbor Day.” (If you like history, you gotta click on that link and see what is on there. Do a search.) The richest person in the world in the 1940s was Henry Ford, and when he died in 1947 his worth was about $200 billion in current dollars. (John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire in 1916.) I mention these snapshots because one New Jersey industry vet wrote to me saying, “There are about 720 billionaires living in the USA, almost 1/4 of worldwide billionaires. The Administration is hiring 87,000 people to oversee the U.S. billionaires. That’s a 120-1 ratio. Ironically, after 40 years, the IRS never found Trump’s misreporting even though they audited him every year. Perhaps the IRS should not hire 87,000 but hire the top 720 CPA firms (paying them more than private practices) to examine the books of the 720 billionaires.” (Today's podcast is here and
Our industry continues to be battered. Starwood Capital-backed Reverse Mortgage Funding and its parent company Reverse Mortgage Investment Trust have filed for bankruptcy. Inlanta Mortgage told the state of Wisconsin it plans to wind down its business. Switching gears, to celebrate the first day of December, spend 5 minutes taking one of my favorite quizzes, focused on figuring out where you’re from based on the words you use for certain common things. (What do you call the little bug that rolls up into a ball when you touch it? Sneakers versus tennis shoes? Y’all versus you guys?) It’s uncanny! What isn’t uncanny are the number of predictions we’ve heard about a recession, many dating from nearly a year ago. Recessions generally mean lower rates. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says that a "mild recession" is likely next year but that concerns about a more severe downturn appear to be abating, noting households have maintained st