Auto debt increased by $28 billion and credit-card balances by $21 billion in Q2, while a mortgage-reporting gap helped push total household debt down slightly.

We spend a whole lot of money without really thinking about this much, and also don’t think much about how little we end up saving. It’s time to think about things more. We are as guilty as anyone for focusing so much on what we should do with the money that we set aside to […]

The Great Recession of 2008 is most famous for the massive default rate we saw with mortgage backed securities. Don’t look now, but this problem is back, and in a big way. While just about everyone who was around during the financial crisis before this one, an economic downturn severe enough to not just be […]

While homeowners have benefited from mortgage deferral payments, deferring paying the rent is a different proposition altogether. Their rising rent bills need to be dealt with or else. As it stands, the month of July is a significant one on the path towards trying to recover from the ravages of our recent economic slowdown due […]

During the last financial crisis, the housing market was ground zero. It’s much more on the periphery this time, and the effects of the lockdown will be more like a stall than a crash. The 2008 financial crisis was brought about entirely from the collapse of the housing market, or more specifically, the collapse of […]

During the last financial crisis, mortgage lending was at the forefront. This one is far broader. Mortgages are caught up in this big net as well, but not as much as some think. Those who remember the financial crisis of 2008 will have a pretty good idea of how big of a deal the mortgage […]

Depending on the circumstances, it can always be a good time to refinance your mortgage. Today’s low rates make this even more tempting, but we need to be careful. There never seems to be a shortage of what we could call refinance bears out there, those who seem to forever want to caution us against […]

In the space of only a few months, commercial real estate company WeWork has gone from a promising looking IPO to on their deathbed. They have some tough decisions. The concept behind WeWork, allowing for more efficient use of commercial space by allowing them to be shared among users, sure sounded like a good idea […]

The reinsurance business has taken a turn for the better lately, but some continue to struggle, especially two that are run by hedge funds. Can we find some value here? Value investing involves people finding companies whose stocks are distressed, if not the company as well, and jumping on in hopes that things will turn […]

The Fed cutting the overnight by a quarter point does entice people to do more mortgage financing. This does stimulate the economy somewhat, but also stabilizes it. A lot of people have a mortgage but don’t really realize what shapes mortgage rates. This is good to know if you are wanting to buy or refinance […]