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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.
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