Canada Quote of the Day: “Canada has never been a melting-pot; more like a tossed salad.” – Arnold Edinborough
As long as we are talking about Canada here’s a joke I made up when I was in the 5th grade: “What’s the first letter of the Canadian alphabet, Ay?” I’m sorry I had to subject all of you to that, and actually, I lied, I was in the 8th grade when I made that up. Just kidding, high school. Okay, fine – last year! It was last year! We can blame the pandemic for that too.
Today in Economic History: It was on this day in 1946 that John Maynard Keynes died at the age of 62. Many credit him as the ‘father of macroeconomics’, based on his idea that governments should act to level out the booms and busts of the economic cycle. (just like the Fed does when they buy bonds to keep rates low, or raise and lower the prime rate). Let’s talk about macroeconomics for a minute this morning…. just kidding, Mortgage Fans! I’m known as the ‘father who only likes words that are three syllables or less’.
Wuss’up This Week: Usually reports about our economy are released daily that can sway interest rates up or down. Usually. This week though there was nothing Monday, nothing yesterday, and nothing today. (*side note: junior year in high school my History teacher Mr. Monahan pointed to my head and said, “You know what’s in there? Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!” I’m still a little scarred from it because I feel like there was a bunch of stuff in there, just nothing to do with history facts.). Tomorrow we have Existing Home Sales Report (expected: 6.03 million) and Jobless Claims, and on Friday New Home Sales (expected: 893k).
Interest rates haven’t changed much since last week which to me is a positive. Today you’ll find both conforming ($548k or less) and jumbo (more than $548k) 30yr fixed rates in the low-3s, Jumbo and conforming ARMs are solid in the mid-to-upper 2s and don’t forget conforming 15yr fixed rates in the low-2s – grab one now and retire before all your friends! As usual, rates will vary based on if it’s a purchase or refi, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you like finding brilliant hidden details in Disney movies.
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $575 of closing costs! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people with past lives that can use this gift.
Canada Quote of the Day 2: “Americans think of Canada as a United States cover band.” – @donni
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Kevin Hart. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Mail a Potato Face? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday tomorrow so let me tell you a few things about myself: I’m not young and I’m not a professional golfer. I act. I’m an actor. And talk about acting, I found out at the age of 37 that my sister was actually my mother, and my parents were actually my grandparents. You might think I couldn’t handle hearing the truth about my family, but nothing I can do about it now – they’re gone, departed. So it’s just me and my movies – and don’t give me scripts expecting me not to ad-lib here and there. One of my most famous lines sounds like I’m introducing a talk show host.”
