Good Monday AM from your hometown lender,
This week is a lazy one for data.
We do have some second-tier reports through the rest of the week but nothing that should be the catalyst for market movement. Any movement will come from future policy expectations. I think it is interesting that over the weekend President Biden gave Ukraine the ok to use longer range missiles that can reach further into Russia. After years of telling Ukraine “no” so not to escalate the war, now with his presidency coming to an end, he gave the green light. I am sure there are other considerations (like North Korea sending in 10,000 soldiers to fight with Russia) but the timing is more than questionable.
Not to get political but there was an interesting piece in the WSJ on what may have turned the tide for the GOP. Nick Timiraos shared that Biden and his senior advisers learned a lesson from the unemployment that followed the Obama-era financial crisis: Spend aggressively when interest rates are low. The Biden White House pushed for a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill on the heels of a $900 billion Covid-relief bill, thinking voters would reward the Democrats for a strong labor market recovery with tangible gains for workers. Politically, that choice backfired,. Ultimately, voters recoiled at the sudden cost-of-living increases instead of celebrating the labor market.
FHA loans may get less expensive soon as the MMI Fund capital reserve is now 5X larger than required. Congress should require Hud to reduce the Mortgage Insurance component of FHA loans as a result.
I should have been a Dr. (if I had been smart enough).
The median salary of a dermatologist, according to a recent survey of more than 150,000 U.S. physicians conducted by the Medical Group Management Association. Pediatricians is $541,000 annually, by contrast, earn a median $258,000 annually. Medical residency applications for dermatology slots are up 50% over the past five years, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, as a younger generation of physicians seeks better work-life balance and high pay.
Stay safe and make today great!
