Market Musings
7 Things Every Home Buyer Should Know – Part 2 – Don’t Worry
Time to take a look at the second installment in the 7 things series. If you recall, last time, we looked at the fact that, in a rapidly changing market like we are, 6 months ago is ancient history. What someone paid 6 months ago…… Well, just read about that at 7 Things –... »
7 Things Every Home Buyer Should Know – Part 1 – Ancient History
Here’s what I wrote about item #1 on the list last time: 6 months ago is ancient history. What your neighbor sold his house for 6 months ago doesn’t matter. What the seller was asking for the house 6 months ago doesn’t matter. What matters is what the market will support today. So, how... »
A Look Back – What Has Changed?
In July of 2008, I wrote a piece as a guest post on Paul Kedrosky’s site, Infectious Greed. I called that piece The Top 7 Things Every Home Buyer Should Know. The piece got a lot of “press” and actually got me interviewed by the New York Times. I was talking with the reporter... »
It’s Coming – the 7 Things Revisited
Sorry for taking so long to get the next post on “The Bigger Picture” done. Let me tell you what I’m working on…. Last July (2008), I wrote a piece called “The Seven Things Every Home Buyer Should Know.” It got picked up by a couple of very high traffic sites (like the New... »
The Jobs Report – How Good (or bad?) Was It?
Technorati Tags: employment report,jobs,unemployment rate,tom vanderwell You know, I’ve had more than one person accuse me of being way too negative in today’s market. I prefer to think of it as way too educated or something like that. No matter how you call it, I feel like it’s way too important to not only... »
What is an Exit Strategy? and Why Does It Matter to the Housing Market?
Okay, anyone who has watched the news, or at least the financial news in the last week, especially after Bernanke’s testimony before both the Senate and the House has heard talk of an “Exit Strategy.” I think that it would be well for us to take a few minutes and look at a couple... »
It’s Different This Time? Really?
If you have been around for more than a day or two, you have undoubtedly heard the saying, “It’s Different This Time.” Former Fed Chairman Greenspan, when talking about the inverted yield curve, “It’s different this time.” (It wasn’t.) A quick search on Google for the term, “It’s Different this Time” and “economics” yields... »
Jobs – the rest of the story…..
First, I’d like to thank Bill at Calculated Risk for the charts that you’ll see below. He does a great job in showing the markets in “pictures.” There has been a lot of talk about the June employment reports and how they are somewhat of a “watershed” event. I’m going to take a few... »
What’s It All About?
What’s Straight Talk – the Bigger Picture all about? A couple of things: I’m starting this site with the belief that there are a lot of “undercurrents” in today’s financial system. Many people don’t have an adequate understanding of the forces that are pushing and pulling in today’s financial system and economy. I’ve devoted... »