Jay Beckingham

Okay, so I'm reading the latest CNNMoney.com article about Fannie & Freddie and all of this negative stuff is starting to get on my nerves. Let's see if this makes an sense to you.

I am an American with an ATTITUDE!

I believe that there are not any problems that exist in our country today that we cannot solve. I base this on the fact that we have a history of solving any/all problems which confront us.

Recently one of our leaders called the country a bunch of whiners. The problem is that there was way too much truth to this. The biggest group of whiners, the national media, jumped on this with extremely harsh criticism. Maybe what they should have done was a little self examination.

Back to Fannie & Freddie. I don't believe that they have any problems which can't be fixed or have already been fixed. They are not going to collapse.

Next, I am sick and tired of political candidates who dwell solely on what's wrong. Both candidates are members of Congress, so do something, that's your job, and you're still drawing a paycheck for it, at the taxpayers expense.

In General, we will solve our problems faster and more effectively, when we start spending more time and energy on the solutions, than whining about the problems.

For all you naysayers, you are correct I have a positive outlook and believe that if we all work together we will work through our current situations sooner.

I'm an American with an Attitude, and I'm proud of it!

Join me, or get out of the way!

I'm beginning to wonder when or if you can trust the national media. Early this morning, 7:30 AM to be exact, it seemed if there wasn't a major story, that they would try to make one.

The Weather Channel was cute. They had a reproter with an LL Bean windbreaker on. He had his hoodie on over his hat and tied up tight. You would have thought that he was in the middle of a major storm, but there wasn't any rain, and there wasn't any wind. He kept on talking about the ocean swells, but there weren't any.

He looked Geekie!

Fay's visited the Keys already, no damage to speak of, but we only have mild breezes and no rain, although it's clouding over, so soon.

Tom Petty's right;

The Waiting's the Hardest Part!

Many headlines start with hurricane warnings and then predict winds gusting between 60 and 70 MPH. Sorry that's not hurricane quality. We need a minimum of 74 MPH. Also they are not talking about sustained activity rather gusts.

I may actually sleep through it all as it should hit and/or be at its worst around 2 AM.

I'm going to leave my car out in case the power goes out, as I would not be able to get it out of the garage due to the electric opener. My major concern are flying projectles, that would be anything left lying around now traveling through the air at 40-50 MPH. Also falling or uprooted trees could be a problem. ours look healthy and the grounds not to saturated.

They're kicking the tourists off Sanibel Island, but the natives appear to be staying.

Well it's not a hoax, cause here she comes.

Bring it on!

Well we didn't get hit by a tropical storm or hurricane today but we really got wacked by our normal mid afternoon thunder and lightning storm. That means we had moonsoon type rain for awhile.

Some interesting things. I tried to get some gas at about 6:00 this evening. The Site station was sold out. 7-Eleven only had premium left.

I haven't seen anyone boarding up there windows and the preparations seem to be minimal. Right now we are not even certain of the path. We're waiting for the storm to bang a hard right, north to northwest. It looks like it will be further west than originally anticipated.

Governor Crist is saying stay cool. but the emergency groups always try to prepare for the worst.

Personally, I'm in Cape Coral, It's on the gulf, but my home is not on the water. From the info available at this time I'm expecting winds of 25 to 50 mph and heavy rain. But, I really don't know. I'll get up in the AM probably around 6ish, check outside. turn on the weather channel, and take it from there.

I was thinking I might pull the car into the garage.

Late Monday afternoon till early Tuesday should be the key timeframe here. I guess I'll have to adjust my schedule.

It's an old cliche, but "time will tell."

Here's another one, "we're experiencing the calm before the storm."

While we have been hit twice in the last five years, more often than not we've been missed by the storms.

I feel relaxed and confident that I am not in an area of extreme danger.

I'll talk at you all tomorrow, look for;

Fay Who, Day Two!

I want to know. Is there really a storm or is this just a hoax by Home Depot and/or Lowes to generate more sales.

I saw a CNN reporter in the Keys summerizing an interview he has with a gentleman who was rowing out to his sail boat. It went like this;

Are you leaving?

Nope.

Are your friends leaving?

Nope.

The background was one of a beautiful day on the water and the man looked like he was going sailing.

On the weather station the announcer stated that this would be a "heavy rain" event for Florida.

Maybe, or maybe not.

We have heavy rain events all summer long, with thunder and lightning, often daily. We have funnel clouds with touchdowns. On a regular basis we are always prepared for bad storms during the summer.

The electricity may go out. Well that also could happen this afternoon.

Is Fay more of a media event than a threat?

I think so.

But,

I did buy an exra 24 bottles of water. So if your thirsty, stop on by!

Okay, last week my primary FHA lender sent out the usual email about how great they are and how much they know. In reading through the mail I noticed that it stated that you can only have one FHA loan. Well that's not correct, so I responded in kind. After a couple of responses back and forth my account executive finally sent me an email stating the following;

We should not be arguing over this, all that matters is how much $$$$$ I can help you make this month.

I guess he doesn't know me well because;

Ethical behavior does matter, big time!

He knew the info was wrong, had no intention of correcting it, and was solely focused on the $$$$$'s.

Personally I'm not trying to become a non profit organization, but;

Have we forgotten already, or did we not learn anything over the past 2-3 years.

Moral and ethical behavior in our industry is vital.

Sole pursuit of the almighty dollar was/is the problem!

Am I overreacting a bit? Maybe, but in my opinion that's what the market needs right now more than anything, that being to create a sense of trust, a comfort zone so to speak.

If we are to overcome our problems we must insist on ethical behavior. Intentionally publishing false data is not acceptable. Ignoring it and/or refusing to correct it when it is pointed out is not acceptable.

So, what's the solution.

They are no longer my FHA source, period.

Okay forget fannie and freddie, they don't really matter. The truly important data is out. An important, world renown American Corporation has announced its July earnings.

That's right Mickey D's is still showing a profit!

That's 8% globally and 6.7% in US stores and the good part is that there has been increased demand for breakfest items.

You've gotta consider the residual benefits;

The market competitive factor;

Our competition overseas is probably slowing down a bit. I beleive that if you eat a lot of this food on a regularly you get a little sluggish.

We really need to jump on this!

Also this type of food should slow down the blood flow significantly, clogging the arteries. So our competitiors shouldn't be thinking clearly, as less blood is moving toward the brain.

Another clear advantage!

Here in the USA;

We continue to consume large quantities of this time of food. This creates new jobs. It will also probably have the effect of decreasing the population. A sad thought, but it hasn't stopped us from eating this stuff (garbage) so far, so it's just a fact.

So if you think things are tough in the financial markets just remember;

Things are really cookin at Mickey D's!!!

Okay Freddie slashed it's dividend 80% or more.

GOOD MOVE!

They shouldn't be paying a dividend at this time. In the big picture the dividend cut is prudent behavior. The cut should produce an annual savings of $500 million.

Net interest income "soared," CNNMoney.com reported, to $1.5 billion from $793 million.

That's a good thing!

Here's a revelation for you, Freddie Mac is involved in the mortgage lending business and will continue to experience adjustments and losses due to foreclosures at least for the foreseeable future. Isn't that an insightful piece of information.

BUT,

Freddie will not fail, won't happen, not now, probably not ever.

The good news;

The newest piece of legislation will provide cheaper money through the treasury, and pretty much an unlimited supply.

Also, I firmly believe that at some point in time that Freddie's stock will stabilize as well as their mortgage portfolio. The stock price will be sufficiently low enough to attract some major investor who will make an extremely large purchase. You heard it here first, or maybe you've also heard it elsewhere.

The bottom line is while they are experiencing some pain

Freddie's okay.

Okay before we all get to crazy here things are not all that bad.

The DAP's are soon to be history. You can try to get one by now, but you could get caught by the deadlines.

In all likelihood there will continue to be assistance programs from state and county agencies.

But the new premise is that if people want to buy a home, first;

They will have to save some $$$$$.

Problem is that for many they have forgotten how to do this!

How much you may ask?

FHA wants the buyer to have 3.5% of their own funds invested in the transaction. Yes this can be a family effort as gift funds are acceptable.

Think about this:

If you want to buy a $100,000 home you will need $3500, as the seller should be able to cover the rest of your costs.

If the rent on the same home would be $900 a month and you needed first $900, last $900, and a deposit $400, then you would need $2200.

The difference is less than a months wages if you actually qualify for the loan to buy the house.

When you look at it this way it just doesn't seem like such a big deal!

The free ride is gone, welcome to the new improved FHA.

By the way it looks alot like the old traditional FHA, and that worked just fine!

I don't know how to react to this. I want to laugh and cry simultaneously.

CNNMoney.com today ran an article about a New York state investigation into mortgage fraud. Try this on for size;

A women with no assets, working as a $10/hr. security guard, with two young children, and living in a homeless shelter acquired a mortgage for $470,000.

Please just stop here and let that sink in for a minute.

I can't totally forgive the woman as she knew she couldn't make the $4,400 initial monthly payment, but she would be able to give her children a nice place to live for the next 6-12 months before she was driven out. Still very wrong, but could you say you wouldn't do the same thing if that's where you were in life at that time?

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the loan officer, who probably got paid quite well for this.

Next question;

Who underwrote this loan?

This is what the national press wants you to focus on, but don't do it. This is a bad situation, but more than likely this is the worst of the worst.

But it did go on.

Let's make sure it never happens again.

Oh yea, there ain't no bailout plan for this stuff!

Here's how ridiculous this is.

I attempted to divide $11.68 billion by 10 cents so I could show how many dimes that is. When I went to punch in $11.68 billion on my Texas Instrument Business Analyst calculator it wouldn't go that far. It would only go to $1.168 billion.

There you have it;

My calculator will not allow Exxon to make that much money this quarter.

But they did!

I'm not one to believe in a windfall profits tax, but I also can't understand the oil companies getting tax breaks.

I'm not in favor of closing those loopholes, I want to;

Slam the Door closed and lock it!

There, having said that I feel better now.