Rice Krispies 101: Today’s trivia prize will be a Rice Krispies T-shirt. If you’re going to wear this you should know a fact or two about the cereal so you can impress people at parties. Here are my Top 4 RK facts for today’s blog: 1. In Australia and New Zealand they are called Rice Bubbles. 2. The Rolling Stones once recorded a short song for a Rice Krispies TV commercial. 3. Snap! Crackle! and Pop! Were invented in 1939, and in other countries where English isn’t the primary language they have different names. For example, in French they are called Cric! Crac! and Croc!, in Spanish it’s Pim! Pam! Pum!, and in Belgium Pes! Pas! Poos! 4. In 1967 a new character was added: Boom! He was not as smiley as Snap, Crackle, and Pop, and the artist who drew him actually had Boom holding sticks of dynamite. After the violent year in ’68 Kellogg’s decided to remove him. (*I made that up that last one, you really didn’t believe that, did you??)
End Quote of the Day: “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.” – Charles M Shultz
Today in Economic History: It was on this day in 1805 when a group of Philadelphia shoemakers had their strike suddenly end when local police intervened under orders from a local judge. The strikers’ employer was the one who urged the courts to get involved, and this event marked the first time an employer sought help from the courts to end a strike. What’s that? You want 14 fun facts about shoes? You’re very demanding this morning, Mortgage Fans, but here ya go.
Wuss’up This Week: Every day reports about our economy are released into the wild, and it’s these reports that can sway interest rates in either direction. Today we’ve got a 5-year Note Auction as well as the FOMC Minutes, tomorrow Jobless Claims and Pending Home Sales, and on Friday the PCE Report. If these reports come in good for the economy you will see rates continue to go up, if they numbers disappoint you’ll see the rates tick down.
Interest Rate Update: Today we find a conforming 30-year fixed rate can be found in the almost mid-5s (*that’s for any loan at $647k or less), and jumbo 30yr fixed (*over $647k) anywhere from the mid-4s to mid-5s. Jumbo ARMs are still a fine choice if you don’t plan on living in the home longer than 10 years as they are about a quarter less. As usual rates will vary based on your credit score, equity in the home, type of home, and if your home is really old.
Veinticinco de Mayo Special: Let your family, friends, coworkers, co-slackers, or people that like old celebrity pics know that for any purchase or refinance that closes with me I will waive $575 in lender fees! Please pass my info along to anyone who can use this gift – thanks!
End Quote of the Day 2: “Whenever I’m nervous on a business call, I just envision the person on the other end of the phone as a Muppet.” – @Jennyandteets
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Aerosmith. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Rice Krispies T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It was on this date in 2012 the third movie in my trilogy was released. Ahh, the good ‘ol days. Ten years later I find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I get comfort talking about my past so let’s reflect on that for clues. An anagram for my rapper name is Prefer Chins – I guess my name was half the title of my sitcom too. I would say I do prefer acting to music these days. I also had another trilogy of movies come out in 1995, 2003, and 2020 – the two-word title in ’95 could also be called Unsatisfactory Lad. I know you’re thinking, ‘He only does movies with sequels.’ Not true. I once portrayed a boxer in 2001 which helped me on March 27th of this year.”
