Relief at Gas Pump No, it doesn’t make up for the vertigo-inducing gyrations (mostly down) on Wall Street the last six weeks or so. But, it’s a little consolation: dramatically lower gas prices. At Costco, the price for regular (87) octane gas recently was $2.159. For Costco members (I am), it’s actually even lower: net...Read More
“Program Trading Gone Wild,” the Sequel? What’s behind gyrating stocks the last three weeks or so? (I know, it seems much longer). Here are two theories: One. Age-old human emotion — fickle, fear-and-greed driven human psychology — is the culprit. In particular, less experienced “retail” investors who chased high-flying tech stocks, and are now freaking...Read More
Proposed(?) Realtor Publicity Stunt No, as a Twin Cities Realtor, I’m not holding my breath waiting for an email or text from a colleague trumpeting a price reduction — or even a list price — in Bitcoin. As attention-getting as that might be (no doubt, what caused a client to suggest that to me recently)....Read More
Traps for the Unwary in an Environment of Rising Interest Rates In the vast majority of Financing Addenda I’ve seen — along with the Inspection Contingency, the two critical Addenda in a Purchase Agreement — the Buyer’s agent fills in the blank above with the word “market.” When rates are stable or falling . . . no problem....Read More
Beleaguered Shareholders: “Stop the Merry Go Round, I Want to Get Off!” Are gyrating, crashing stocks good or bad for the housing market? Both. In fact, I see three positives and negatives apiece emerging from the recent market carnage. Positives Here are the pluses (yes, pluses): Weak equity markets forestall the Federal Reserve’s plan to...Read More
Stock “Comp’s” vs. Housing “Comp’s” If you want to buy 100 shares of Google or Amazon, what are the comp’s? How much the last Buyer paid a fraction of a second ago. After all, stock is fungible: every share (at least common) is the same as every other. Nanoseconds vs. Weeks (Months?) Now, assume you...Read More
