http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/03/beck.oilexecs/index.html
Here it is ladies and gentleman. Glenn Beck has arrived with a dump truck full of salt to rub in the American middle class's open wounds. In Glenn's latest post on CNN, he thinks that the average American should be thankful for BIG OIL! The premise of this argument is that Big Oil making record profits while the little guy is buried in debt is offset by the fact that they get us to work, keep our homes warm, and keep our hospitals running. According to Glenn, Al Gore is actually the bad guy with all of his scientific data and global warming talk. The saying ignorance is bliss must be true, why else would Mr. Beck have that fat smile on his face. I sent out my thank-you card to the CEO of Exxon with a nice fruit basket yesterday, I hope he likes it. Tomorrow Glenn is posting an article on how we should be thankful for heart disease, don't miss it!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Fannie Mae Tightens Rules Increased Credit Score
Fannie Mae tightens rules for mortgages
Report: Company to require minimum credit score for buying loans
Report: Company to require minimum credit score for buying loans
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23914355/
So Fannie Mae is now going to require a minimum of a 580 credit score on most loans. I'm not sure why this is still the most critical factor in qualification for a loan. Isn't the credit score modeling the reason why this whole mess occurred? Banks taking loans with 720 credit scores with no documentation at all. It is apparent to me that the credit score algorithms are flawed. Why can someone be a 700 credit score one day and drop to 600 the next?
The system doesn't give credit to people that pay their cable, water and gas bills on time every month. However, the system will reduce someones credit scores significantly if they forget to send in a medical insurance co-pay right away. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to how the scores are calculated.
Manipulation of credit scores has become a high profit industry. There isn't a day that goes by that I either receive spam, see a commercial or radio ad guaranteeing higher credit scores. Companies have actually been set up to allow consumers to borrow someone's credit history. They simply allow you (for a fee) to become a co-borrower on someone's debt. Thereby receiving the same payment history this person has in the past. This allows someone to increase there credit score hundreds of points over night.
So Fannie Mae is now going to require a minimum of a 580 credit score on most loans. I'm not sure why this is still the most critical factor in qualification for a loan. Isn't the credit score modeling the reason why this whole mess occurred? Banks taking loans with 720 credit scores with no documentation at all. It is apparent to me that the credit score algorithms are flawed. Why can someone be a 700 credit score one day and drop to 600 the next?
The system doesn't give credit to people that pay their cable, water and gas bills on time every month. However, the system will reduce someones credit scores significantly if they forget to send in a medical insurance co-pay right away. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to how the scores are calculated.
Manipulation of credit scores has become a high profit industry. There isn't a day that goes by that I either receive spam, see a commercial or radio ad guaranteeing higher credit scores. Companies have actually been set up to allow consumers to borrow someone's credit history. They simply allow you (for a fee) to become a co-borrower on someone's debt. Thereby receiving the same payment history this person has in the past. This allows someone to increase there credit score hundreds of points over night.
In closing, I simply feel there must be a better way. FICO has driven the mortgage industry for way too long.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Congress grills Big Oil
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23901712/
Congress grilled big oil in regards to their record profits amid the rising cost of energy. According to some reports, the price at the pump could be as much as $4.00 a gallon as soon as June of this year. Last year, Exxon Mobil Corp. made a 40 billion dollar profit? At the same time, gas station franchise owners report that they are making zero profit off of the gasoline they sell. Most of the profits come from food, beverage, and lotto sales. It is obvious, that under the G.W.Bush administration, big oil has gotten a free pass to exploit this country and its people. It's another sad reality, corporate America is getting rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. Everything from the cost of food, to airline transportation is being driven sky high. Can the democrats and the new administration loosen this strangle hold or will they fold and sell out? I guess we will find out as soon as they are done beating each other into oblivion...hopefully we won't be past the point of no return by then!
Congress grilled big oil in regards to their record profits amid the rising cost of energy. According to some reports, the price at the pump could be as much as $4.00 a gallon as soon as June of this year. Last year, Exxon Mobil Corp. made a 40 billion dollar profit? At the same time, gas station franchise owners report that they are making zero profit off of the gasoline they sell. Most of the profits come from food, beverage, and lotto sales. It is obvious, that under the G.W.Bush administration, big oil has gotten a free pass to exploit this country and its people. It's another sad reality, corporate America is getting rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. Everything from the cost of food, to airline transportation is being driven sky high. Can the democrats and the new administration loosen this strangle hold or will they fold and sell out? I guess we will find out as soon as they are done beating each other into oblivion...hopefully we won't be past the point of no return by then!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Housing Secretary to Resign
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/31/news/economy/hud.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008033111
Housing secretary Alphonso Jackson to step down. This is amid allegations of favortism among HUD contractors. Apparently Jackson gave about 30 years of his life devoted to helping people find homes regardless race, religion or ethnicity. I guess someone needs to go down for the housing woes in the past 12 months. I think they crucified the wrong man.
Housing secretary Alphonso Jackson to step down. This is amid allegations of favortism among HUD contractors. Apparently Jackson gave about 30 years of his life devoted to helping people find homes regardless race, religion or ethnicity. I guess someone needs to go down for the housing woes in the past 12 months. I think they crucified the wrong man.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Mortgage Bankers Clean Up Mess They Made?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23812916/
Why do media outlets continue to portray mortgage bankers as the bad guys? They didn't start this fire, it was already burning. Wholesale lenders and big money Wall Street investors creating stated W-2, pay-option ARMs, no doc, and no verification loans were the root of all the turmoil we see today. Why did they create these programs you might ask? It’s that simple five letter word that is always at the bottom of a mess like this…..GREED. When the refinance boom started to retract in 2004, Wall Street investors needed a way to maintain an upward trend in their bottom line. To do that they required more volume. The only way to get more volume out of the shrinking market was to create complex, aggressive, programs with ultra loose guidelines that would open up the opportunity to refinance to new demographics that previously didn't qualify. They sacrificed quality for quantity. The mortgage brokers, mortgage loan officers, and mortgage bankers were simply working with the tools that they were given by these wholesale lenders. They played no part in designing these programs, they just sold them. They didn’t make the rules, they simply played by the rules that the entities that were driving the market at that time set. Who is to blame when your new car breaks down? The manufacturer or the sales representative who sold it to you? Mortgage bankers are cleaning up the mess, Wall Street’s mess.
Why do media outlets continue to portray mortgage bankers as the bad guys? They didn't start this fire, it was already burning. Wholesale lenders and big money Wall Street investors creating stated W-2, pay-option ARMs, no doc, and no verification loans were the root of all the turmoil we see today. Why did they create these programs you might ask? It’s that simple five letter word that is always at the bottom of a mess like this…..GREED. When the refinance boom started to retract in 2004, Wall Street investors needed a way to maintain an upward trend in their bottom line. To do that they required more volume. The only way to get more volume out of the shrinking market was to create complex, aggressive, programs with ultra loose guidelines that would open up the opportunity to refinance to new demographics that previously didn't qualify. They sacrificed quality for quantity. The mortgage brokers, mortgage loan officers, and mortgage bankers were simply working with the tools that they were given by these wholesale lenders. They played no part in designing these programs, they just sold them. They didn’t make the rules, they simply played by the rules that the entities that were driving the market at that time set. Who is to blame when your new car breaks down? The manufacturer or the sales representative who sold it to you? Mortgage bankers are cleaning up the mess, Wall Street’s mess.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Creative ways to use Linkedin.com
With over 20 million users, Linkedin.com is the business professionals go to networking site. Some people have figured out how to use it as much more than that. It is quickly becoming a great way to create a buzz about your new company. The USNEWS article below tells how Jason Alba, A Salt Lake City entrepreneur, became an expert on professional social networking when he lost his job and used linkedin.com and other social networking sites to promote his site.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/03/25/boosting-your-sales-with-social-networking.html
Respond to this blog and tell us your story of how a social networking site brought you business success.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/03/25/boosting-your-sales-with-social-networking.html
Respond to this blog and tell us your story of how a social networking site brought you business success.
New Home Sales Down Again
Home sales are down again! Hold on to your hats, the economic storm is going to get worse...much worse. According to the New York Times, sales of newly constructed homes dropped 2.8 percent from December, to an annual rate of 588,000. It was the third consecutive monthly decline. The median price of a new home sold in January fell to $216,000, down 15 percent from a year ago, according to the Commerce Department. Being on the inside looking out of this whirlwind, I believe the worst is yet to come. The reason being is that the equity that the cash strapped middle class desperately need to cash out and use for things like essential home improvements, children's college, children's weddings, and most of all to pay off those high interest credit cards is disappearing. Without this equity, and with the price of everything increasing at a record rate, there is nowhere to turn for help. This is the perfect storm of an economic free fall with no safety net.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23809665/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23809665/
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