Phil Grossfield's Blog

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  The first guy wanted $350 to fix my bike.  I would have paid it too but he was kind of a punk about it.  My kids are 7 and 4 and neighbor kids are about the same age and as a result biking is becoming a big deal.  Well, I haven’t ridden my mountain bike for about 12 years.  In fact, it’s been collecting dust from at least 4 different residences since I rode it last.  So, I took it to a bike shop to get an estimate on getting it functional or maybe even trading it in.  The first shop had a kid (early 20s) working the repair area and was clearly put-off by the mere presence of my dinosaur.  “Hey man, that bike was a mac-daddy ride in its day,” I said.  He wasn’t impressed.  He quoted me $350 dollars to fix it up.  Again, I probably would have paid it if he wasn’t such a punk.  But I took my mac-daddy ride to a bike shop in Solana Beach where Dan the Man quoted me $100, fixed it up in perfect working condition, and even put on a new kickstand.  How do you like me now punk?!

My Market Watch:  The market is all over the place.  Yesterday there was some suspicious activity on the markets and transactions are being investigated.  Both stocks and bonds were down yesterday which is unusual…although not the rule, typically stocks and bonds have an inverse relationship.  The European Central Bank “ECB” didn’t enlighten us on their plans and the Fed didn’t mention anything either.  As a result traders pulled money from stocks and invested in bonds this morning…rates bounced back from yesterdays mid-day change for the worse.  The big Jobs Report is tomorrow, Friday.  I anticipate the report will come in better than expected and as a result we might see bonds falter.  But I’ve been wrong before.  Lord knows if I could predict the future I wouldn’t be working with all of you…no offense.  Make your own decisions based on your own research when deciding to float or lock loans.  If the report comes in better than expected giving traders the strong economy vibe, then they will invest in stocks and not bonds and we’ll see rates get worse.  If it comes in worse than expected, then rates will stay strong…but to the extent they get better…there isn’t much room for improvement.  Let me know your thoughts….  Disclaimer

My Schedule: Today I’m in L.A. for a couple of appointments and will be available in-between.  My first appointment is at 10:30a and the other is at 2:00p.  I’ll be driving back to San Diego later in the early evening….