My friend Jordan once bragged to me he studied harder for our English final than all the rest of his finals combined. That was enough proof for me, I would sit near him and just copy his answers because I hadn’t studied at all. A week after the final exam the teacher called us both into his office and said, “It’s clear one of you copied off of the other. I would notify your parents but you both got Ds on this test which is punishment enough.” After we walked out of his office, Jordan got mad at me for copying his answers, and I got mad at him for bragging about how much he studied for the final. It was pretty comical, but seriously, bragging about something and backing it up are two different things, and that was a lesson more valuable than I would ever learn in English class. Somewhere in the far future we’ll be able to brag to our grandkids that we lived in a time when rates were in the twos and in the eights in the same three-year span.
Bragging Quote of the day: “Bragging is not an attractive trait, but let’s be honest. A man who catches a big fish doesn’t go home through an alley.” – Ann Landers
Today in Economic History: It was on this day in 1946 when President Harry Truman created the Office of Economic Stabilization (OES). The office was designed to watch prices and try to keep inflation down as the nation shifted from a war-time economy to a peace-time economy. (*I don’t know what we’re doing now to try and keep inflation down but there’s no peace-time in my house when my Yen Yen order of two egg rolls, kung pao chicken, and fried rice added up to over $50 with delivery. More about inflation below…)
Possible Game Show Answer: Astronauts can grow up to 3 percent taller in space than they are on Earth because of the weightlessness causes the spine to expand.
Wuss’up This Week: Before I talk about this week we have to shed light on what happened last week. In particular, there were four inflation reports that all came in higher than expected – this is a rate killer, Mortgage Fans. In the span of two weeks we’ve seen rates climb a full point after a nice rally that started around Christmas (thank you, Santa!). Sometimes in this industry, reports that are way off expectations bring a knee-jerk reaction to those findings – and that in my opinion is what we’re seeing here. Take a deep breath, relax, and watch rates start to come down. They will. In the meantime, today we have the Minutes of Fed’s January FOMC meeting, tomorrow Existing Home Sales, along with a bunch of Fed Presidents and Chairs speaking.
Interest Rate Update: Today we find the conforming 30yr fixed rate (*this is for any loans at $766k or less) in the very high-6s-to-low-to-mid 7s, and Jumbo 30yr fixed (*over $766k) high-7s for a 30yr fixed BUT… mid-6s for ARMs! As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you like a good rescue dog story
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $450 in lender fees! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or Yo-Yo experts that can use this gift.
Bragging Quote of the day 2: “Anyone else getting sick of their dad constantly bragging that the Zodiac Killer was never caught?” – @rolldigggity
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who guessed John McEnroe last week!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win an Am I A Sandwich Hot Dog T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday today and an anagram for my name is Southern Ripe! But really, flying from Chicago to my homeland you’d have to go mostly east. And to get to my fictional home, well… you’d have to travel to Westeros and Essos. But I love America, especially Phoenix at night. Haha, just kidding – that’s what you’d think my 2019 movie was about! Besides acting I love singing. Wait, I love singers. Actually, I fell in love with a singer from a boy band, married him in 2019, and divorced my 2023. I didn’t mind the divorce, sometimes a woman has to do what she has to do. And he probably thought a man has to do ‘What a man gotta do.’
