Phil Grossfield's Blog

The Travel Mama’s Guide!  My wife, the Travel Mama, has officially launched her book about Vacationing with Babies and Children AND STAYING SANE.

ENTER TO WIN a copy of the book PLUS a $250 Residence Inn by Marriott gift card. Also, save 15% off when you order here through May 31 using this coupon code: DDTFQCU2. Starting in June you can buy the book at Amazon.com. Thanks!  🙂
 

Oklahoma City. I remember the fear of huddling in the basement with my Mom and sisters…I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and we had our fair share of tornado scares. My Dad was a traveling salesman and was gone 5 days a week so I have no memories of him in those experiences. My Mom was the protector of tornadoes…she did her best to make me feel protected in the corner of our  basement laundry room with a blanket over us……I remember being scared but also wanting desperately to go outside and look at the storm. I have vivid memories of the drama. My experiences are but a fraction of what the people in Oklahoma City have endured. I cannot imagine what they went through or how they are feeling now. Mother nature can be so brutal. My prayers….

My Market Watch:  Bonds are up BIG! This morning after the initial rate sheet was published bonds starting shooting higher after negative economic recovery news. Bonds are now almost +60bps higher than when rates were published this morning. Traders took this as an opportunity to take gains from stocks and invest in bonds. As a result, the price of bonds has been shooting up…when this happens rates/pricing improve. I have not seen a mid-day reprice yet but I’m expecting a reprice for the better soon! If you were planning to lock, I’d hold off and wait to see if pricing improves. Notice how the bond dropped down earlier and touched the Garage in my graphic. As soon as it hit the garage traders took this as a good sign to start buying…buy low and sell high, right? Also, and I hate to say this, but detrimental weather can also affect traders’ choices in buying and selling…typically bad for stocks and good for bonds. Keep an eye on things…sometimes these gains can be wiped away fast if traders decide to capture their gains and sell off at the higher price quickly….

My Schedule:  working from home…available all day.