Marc's Mortgage Matter's

Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest, and drops dead at the table. Showing respect for their fallen brother, the other five continue playing standing up.
Michael O'Conner looks around and asks, "Oh, me boys, someone got's to tell Paddy's wife. Who will it be?"
They draw straws. Paul Gallagher picks the short one. They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don't make a bad situation any worse.
"Discreet? I'm the most discreet Irishmen you'll ever meet. Discretion is me middle name. Leave it to me."
Gallagher goes over to Murphy's house and knocks on the door. Mrs. Murphy answers, and asks what he wants. Gallagher declares, "Your husband just lost $500, and is afraid to come home."
"Tell him to drop dead!'" says Murphy's wife.
"I'll go tell him," says Gallagher.

Did you know that there is now a market in Madoff settlement receivables? Let’s say you lost $1.0 million to Madoff and are waiting for a partial recovery. Investors will buy that receivable from you today for 60-70 cents on the dollar. Isn’t it wonderful how markets will spring up on their own and determine the value of different goods or services?

Salomon Brothers, Bear Stearns, Dean Witter, Shearson, Dillon Read, Lehman Brothers, Paine Webber, Kidder Peabody, Bache, Alex. Brown, Robertson Stephens, Blythe Eastman, DLJ, Drexel, E.F. Hutton, and Kuhn Loeb. Just reminiscing about some companies no longer with us.

In 1976 the average American ate more than 90 pounds of beef a year, and it’s now around sixty pounds. In an article on this trend, the Wall Street Journal wrote about a woman who promotes the eating of more red meat, writing that “Jenson loves eating lots of red meat, something her friends find hard to swallow.” Isn’t that fun how the Wall Street Journal drops in clever things like that? The next day there was a headline, “Boat Industry Stays Afloat.”

From an economic perspective, world stock markets are hitting 2 1/2 month lows today (Tuesday 15th), and Treasury yields have dropped due to the devastation. Contrary to what some Wall Street analysts believe, one reader wrote, "What happened in japan is a complete human and economic disaster, not an opportunity for economic growth. Rebuilding projects after a natural disaster are not stimulative whatsoever - the immediate economic effect of the quake/tsunami was that tons of capital and material wealth/assets were destroyed instantly (not to mention all the lives lost). Rebuilding the infrastructure returns that area to where they were before the quake/tsunami. That doesn't equal growth in an economic sense - you have to distinguish between the seen (so-called job creation of the quake/tsunami) and the unseen (economic growth potential of that same labor and capital had there been no quake/tsunami). If one quake/tsunami is 'supportive to economic growth', wouldn't that mean that 10 quake/tsunami's would be phenomenal for economic growth? That makes no sense whatsoever."

Sad note re the Itamar barbarism; “The cold-blooded murder of this family, the killing of children, is an act of depravity that must be strongly condemned. It is the height of cowardice which makes anyone of good conscience scream at the injustice. This despicable act not only destroyed this one family by ending five lives and traumatizing the remaining children, but it rocked the already-shaky situation in the Middle East.

“Far too many nations in the world have been quick to condemn Israel for every action it has taken in recent years, but have been notable for their silence when this family was butchered. If the roles were reversed, the outrage would be deafening.

“I am especially appalled that within 24 hours of these lives being mourned, Palestinians publicly celebrated the memory of a terrorist who killed 37 people in 1978, including 13 children. Until they stop committing these acts of violence, and then glorifying the criminals who commit them, there is little hope of ever achieving peace. I can only hope that one day we will live in a time where these terrible acts are a thing of the past, and viewed with horror by future generations of Israelis, the Palestinians, the U.N. and the world.”
Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The world's troubles sent investors scrambling for a place to hide this week, with stock markets having a few rough days. Among the most favorite places to stash cash are highly-liquid US Treasuries, and investor demand for them has driven the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury down by more than a quarter-percentage point over the last week or so.

The massive earthquake in Japan, followed by an indescribably destructive Tsunami which in turn triggered perhaps an unprecedented nuclear crisis may have far-reaching political and economic effects. In the middle east, political unrest is creating near civil war in Libya, and rising oil prices threaten to slow an already tepid domestic recovery.

All these troubles and others are to the benefit of US mortgage shoppers, who would be well-advised to take advantage of rates which are approaching 2011 lows.

At some point, and probably at a faster-than-expected pace, interest rates will begin to move higher. Time may not cure all the woes which affect both us here and especially those abroad, but it does allow for time to become accustomed to them, to learn how to work both in and around them, and ultimately to focus on the longer term's prospects.

Next week's got a fairly light calendar of economic data again, but we'll get a look at new and existing home sales, a final review of 4Q10 GDP, an indicator of consumer moods and an economic reference point. Stock markets found some opportunities to rally on Friday, by just a little, but only a resolution of the nuclear trouble in Japan might cause much of a move in interest rates. Here's hoping that comes as quickly as possible, even if it will mean slightly higher mortgage rates. Absent that, rates should be pretty flat next week. 

New High School Exit Exam - you only need 4 correct out of 10 questions to pass.

1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?


Remember, you need only 4 correct answers to pass. Check your answers below:

1) 116 years
2) Ecuador
3) Sheep and Horses
4) November
5) Squirrel fur
6) Dogs
7) Albert
8) Crimson
9) New Zealand
10) Orange (of course)