Oct. 2, 2007: Historical humor, and Indy is showing signs of life

Oct. 2, 2007: Historical humor, and Indy is showing signs of life Rob Chrisman

The 3 Goldberg brothers, Norman, Hiram, and Maxwell invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. On July 17th, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97º. The 3 brothers walked into old man Henry Ford’s office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that 3 gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.

Henry was curious and invited them into his office.  They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car. They persuaded him to get into the car which was about 130º – turned on the air-conditioner and cooled the car off immediately.                    The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them 3 million dollars for the patent. The brothers refused, saying they would settle for 2 million but they wanted the recognition by having a label “The Goldberg Air-Conditioner” on the dashboard of each car that it was installed in.                        Now old man Ford was more than just a little bit Anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg’s name on 2 million Ford cars. They haggled back and forth for about 2 hours and finally agreed on 4 million dollars and that just their first names would be shown. And so, even today, all Ford air-conditioners show on the controls the names “Norm, Hi, & Max”.

Things were quiet on the investor news front, although Indymac appears to be “cranking things up” slightly. They have recently released their Alt-A Jumbo product, their Jumbo No MI product, and their 5/1 Flex Pay product.

Washington Mutual’s wholesale unit will have new standard beginning October 9th designed to ensure that borrowers fully understand their loan terms and the total compensation they will pay brokers.

Yesterday we had a nice rally. The ISM Manufacturing Index was 52.0 for September, marking the third consecutive decline in the index which puts it at its lowest since March. Why the improvement in rates? The market psychology shifted to the assumption that the Fed believes that inflation is a secondary concern because the central bank views a recession as a much greater threat to the economy! But if the economy is slowing, why is the stock market doing so well? That’s a good question, although with lower rates it appears that “capital is loosening up” and going to work. Will the dip in the ISM index mean the Fed is more likely to cut interest rates again at its next policy meeting on Halloween? We’re giving a little of the rally back this morning, however, as the “flight to quality bid” is lower. But overall, look for a slight improvement to mortgage prices versus yesterday morning.

How about our friend the dollar? The Fed’s reduction in Fed Funds (to lower financing costs) has weakened the dollar and rekindled fears of inflation. If consumers stop spending, and home price declines continue, some analysts believe that this could undermine the effectiveness of additional Fed rate cuts. Recession concerns are increasing daily after the Fed lowered rates by 50 basis points a few weeks ago and didn’t even mention inflation in their statement! But there are signs that credit markets are improving, though investors say it is hardly time to signal an “all clear” for the market. Bond-trading volumes have picked up but remain below normal, and investors agreed to buy almost twice as much of a risky loan offering as expected. Even the market for some mortgages is stirring again.