Time to Lock in Latest Rate Drop If you’ve got a knack for finding deals, you already know the basic principle: know when (and where) the sales are. That means buying a car in August, just before the new models come out. It means getting gas at Costco when prices rise, because they only change...Read More
Credit Crunch Analogous to Blocked Artery If you don’t have a Ph.d in economics and have been a bit mystified by the urgent tone in Washington and on Wall Street, here’s a good analogy: The ongoing credit crisis (and freeze) is to the economy what a blood clot is to a person. If the clot...Read More
Edina Neighborhood Defies Downturn Investors like to say that “it’s not a stock market, it’s a market of stocks.” In real estate, that translates to, “it’s not a housing market, it’s a market of houses — and neighborhoods.” Anyone who wants evidence that there are plenty of pockets of strength in an otherwise soft market...Read More
Jealous Dogs“Scientists in Austria report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that a dog may stop obeying a command if it sees that another dog is getting a better deal.” –“A Jealous Streak? With Treats, Dogs Seem to Know What’s Fair,” The New York Times (12/9/08)Just two questions: anyone else see any...Read More
Four Steps to Arresting a Financial Crash If the economy was a commercial airline flight, we’d now be approaching the point where the flight attendants would be dropping the oxygen masks and instructing passengers on how to use them. Instructions — and preparedness — are no less important during a financial crash. In roughly the...Read More
New Mortgage-Backed Debt A Good Investment?A lot of people subscribe to the notion — I’m one of them — that the safest time to fly is right after a crash. That’s when everyone is at their most vigilant, and when everyone is at their most vigilant . . . bad things are a lot less...Read More
