Loren's Blog

Investors knew that the economy was in tough shape in December, and there was little reaction to today's Employment report. The economy lost -524K jobs in December, which was very close to the consensus forecast. The Unemployment Rate jumped to 7.2%, the highest level since 1993, from a revised 6...

The Fed announced that it purchased $10.2 billion in agency MBS between January 5 and January 7. The Fed may purchase up to $500 billion by the end of June. There was stronger than average demand for the 10-yr Treasury auction. The Dow fell 25 points. Jobless Claims announced this morning were lo...

Changes are finally coming to the "art" of credit scoring, the mathematical modeling of assigning a number score to how a Consumer uses credit. Soon, two of the three credit reporting bureaus will use a new model. Fair Isaac, the developer of FICO scores, has made the biggest change to its mathem...

Today's economic data had little impact. November Pending Home Sales fell -4% to 82.3, below the consensus of 88.0, to a record low. December ISM Services came in a little higher than expected, while December Factory Orders fell short. The FOMC Minutes from the December 16 Fed meeting showed broa...

To me, it's always fun to notice how crowded my workout place is every January. I know that if I put up with the slight wait to do my 'work', that within a few weeks....it will all return to normal. Why? Because of human nature. It's HARD to change things long-term, and most of us are too busy, d...

Now more than any other time in our recent history, it is important that we find ways to stay positive no matter what. Why? Because success depends on your mindset, not on the economy or on the marketplace. I think when times get tough, people start to look outside of themselves for answers and w...

This week, most of the "big news" is squeezed into 2 days. Friday, the important Employment report will come out. As usual, this data on the number of jobs, the Unemployment Rate, and wage inflation will be the most highly anticipated economic data of the month, since the condition of the labor m...

An article caught my eye this weekend regarding the push to (once again) allow Bankruptcy judges to change the terms in a Mortgage Contract to help folks in bankruptcy. While I can feel for many who are struggling with Foreclosures, I feel this will just push folks who are facing foreclosure to f...

During this Christmas week, all of the economic data will come out on Tuesday and Wednesday. The final revisions to third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be revealed on Tuesday. GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity. Both Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales will be release...

Had an eye-opening experience at a networking meeting I was at this morning. (Preface: as many who read my blog know, I've written about getting your business plan ready for next year NOW!) The question came up the the 27 folks there...."How many have set their 2009 goals yet?" Only 4 people rais...