Marc's Mortgage Matter's

Former Democratic presidential candidate John "I am not the father" Edwards has reportedly bought a home for his former mistress. Imagine if Tiger Woods started doing that. You could jump-start the housing market! 

I don't know where I am going to eat lunch today, much less predict where things like unemployment are going to be in a year. I love it when someone or some company predicts where interest rates or unemployment is going to be a year from now, or even five years from now. What were these folks saying five years ago about where the economy would be today? Is their livelihood based on talking a good game, or actually betting their own money on whether or not their prediction is correct? And if they're dead wrong, are they really good at explaining why they were wrong? Just something to keep in mind.

The European Union is made up of 27 countries, though it may be 28 soon with Croatia. But only 16 countries use the euro, and those 16 make up the "euro zone". Many potential countries - those that have been considering joining up - are now waiting. These include Poland, the Czechs, and several smaller Eastern European countries. Many of the entry rules and restrictions (like deficit size) are being broken by current members! Who wants to catch a falling knife? As it relates to us, euro zone concerns seem, on the surface, to make it less critical that we address our own problems in this country. Economists point out that with Treasury rates low the expense on debt service is low, but if politicians refuse to adopt fiscal sustainability then the markets will do it for them and the price will be much higher.

In our business, few believe that lending is becoming easier, that property values moving steadily higher, or that potential borrowers are suddenly in better qualifying shape. Part of the picture, of course, is the continued high unemployment rate, and many economists feel that the employment picture here in the US has begun to improve. Maybe it isn't in the weekly Initial Jobless Claims, but improvement is being seen in areas such as "withholding tax receipts". Tax receipts are volatile but an important forecasting input for the labor market, because they are timely and not subject to revision. And lately they have turned positive (up 6% year-over-year), which tells us that employment income is expanding due to higher wages, more hours worked by the existing workforce and an influx of new workers.

Opinion: Israel's Actions Were a Fiasco, But ...

Special to AOL News (June 3) -- A fiasco is a fiasco, and it's hard to label the Israeli handling of the fake freedom-fighting flotilla anything but a disaster. But take a deep breath and think a little beyond the obvious headlines. After we all deplore the loss of life, and some of us deplore the PR victory for Islamic radicals and their fan base, consider what happened.

On Tuesday, I posted a short piece over at the American Enterprise Institute's blog asking what we would do if a flotilla made its way toward Guantanamo to deliver aid and comfort to the victims of American aggression, illegal detention or some such. And if that flotilla ignored warnings to turn away and refused to allow U.S. security to board peacefully to examine the contents. And if, once boarded, those on the boats attacked our servicemen. It hasn't happened -- yet. But why not?

After all, the flotilla wasn't really about the Palestinians. If it were, then why not float a shipment to the refugee camps in Lebanon? And it's not really about rights. If it were, then why not protest Hamas' treatment of girls in U.N. Relief and Works Agency camps? The spokeswoman for the flotilla made clear that the mission was more about Israel than it was about actually helping anyone; indeed, the flotilla refused to dock for inspection and transportation of goods to Gaza (maybe they were worried someone would think bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles were not educational). It's not even about getting food and medicine to the Palestinians, something Israel facilitates already.

There's no need to detail the reactions to this incident -- nor note the glee with which such champions of human dignity as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Daniel Ortega and the U.N. Human Rights Council have responded -- because others have done that job. The Obama administration is getting some credit in some quarters for not jumping on board the anti-Israeli bandwagon. But it deserves little. It is precisely the administration's harping on Israel from nearly day one that has given credence and legitimacy to these over-the-top criticisms.

And it is precisely the administration's unwillingness to call Turkey -- a NATO ally -- on the carpet for its cozying up to our enemies that fed Ankara's willingness to sponsor this Potemkin humanitarian effort. No, the White House didn't make matters worse, but it certainly helped pave the way for what occurred.

Yes, we can regret what happened and we can criticize the Israeli handling of the entire incident. But Israel has the legal right under international law to ensure that shipments to Gaza do not contain arms -- arms likely to be used against it -- much as every civilized government has the right to protect its citizens within the bounds of the law.

And when we justify the performance artists who seek to overturn those rights, we set ourselves up for the same treatment. Maybe not today, but soon.

Danielle Pletka is vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Everyone seemed to think that Nonfarm Payrolls were going to increase significantly. Census hiring, a big wild card in this government-sponsored era, has fallen way below the bureau's original estimate of 700-800,000 jobs, and is probably less than 200,000. But even the Census Bureau numbers have been called into question lately. The New York Post reports that although this hiring has been decent over the last few months, the Labor Department" doesn't check the Census hiring figure or whether the jobs are actually new or recycled. It considers a new job to have been created if someone is hired to work at least one hour a month. One hour! A month! So, if a worker is terminated after only one hour and another is hired in her place, then a second new job can apparently be reported." 

Non-Farm Payrolls were up 431,000, but the private sector was up only 41,000. In fact, the census workers accounted for 411,000. Although there were March and April revisions, this is a weak number, and stock market numbers plunged on the news. The unemployment rate fell to 9.7% from 9.9% - certain to make the headlines tomorrow. Hourly Earnings were up 0.3%. A jobless recovery anyone?  You can read all the flowery language you want, but it boils down to a poor job market continuing to show that our economy is sluggish, leading to a lower stock market and continued lower rates.

A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary on the beaches in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. People would say, "What a peaceful & loving couple."
The local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage. The husband replied, "Well, it dates back to our honeymoon in America. We visited the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon, by horse. We hadn't gone too far when my wife's horse stumbled and she almost fell off.
"My wife looked down at the horse and quietly said, 'That's once.'
"We proceeded a little further and her horse stumbled again. Again my wife quietly said, 'That's twice.'
"We hadn't gone a half-mile when the horse stumbled for the third time my wife quietly removed a revolver from her purse and shot the horse dead."
The man continued, "I shouted at her, 'What's wrong with you, woman?! Why did you shoot the poor animal like that, are you *%&#@$ crazy!?'
She looked at me, and quietly said, 'That's once.'
And from that moment we have lived happily ever after."