Daily Archives

Not even lower rates… were enough to get homeowners to refinance their mortgages. Mortgage applications were down 13.5% compared to this time last year. Applications to refinance a home mortgage were down 28% compared to this time last year. Not only are they decreasing from year-to-year, but they are also decreasing from week-to-week.

The only exception… are with FHA purchase applications. FHA loans are government-insured and allow for a lower credit score and lower down payment. The increase in this type of application shows that first-time buyers are not only looking but also buying.

A little lesson on supply and demand… and I’ll give it to you. There is a massive shortage of homes for sale right now, and the supply is not growing fast enough to meet the demand. Therefore, many buyers are competing for few [good] homes. If you are selling a home – name your price.

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Alphabet wants to get you there… and they are already accomplishing that with Google Maps which has more than 1 billion active monthly users. However, the future of transportation involves much more than just directions. Whether it be electric scooters, self-driving cars or flying cars we know that Alphabet wants in on it.

They spend a lot… in fact, Alphabet was the most active corporate investor in 2017. Alphabet has three venture funding arms, which are: GV, CapitalG, and Gradient. These companies are used by Alphabet to fund different investments, such as transportation technologies.

What are they investing in… GV invested in Uber and CapitalG invested in Lyft. Gradient provided funding to Scotty Labs, which allows people to remote control self-driving cars. Alphabet also directly invested in GoJek, a ride-hailing startup in Southeast Asia and has a self-driving business unit in Waymo.

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Have you ever heard a song so much… that you started to like it? Well, apparently someone wanted this to happen to you after Drake’s “Scorpion” dropped a few days ago. The album broke streaming records on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon the day of its release.

If you have a Spotify account… you know exactly what I am talking about. You could see Drake’s face on just about every playlist – even those that didn’t feature his songs. Siri also got in on the fun by memorizing every single one of Drake’s nicknames and relaying them back to anyone that was curious. After being released, the album was streamed 10 million times per hour.

Also, if you have a Spotify account… you may not be happy to know what I am talking about. Some Spotify users even requested refunds after getting buried in an avalanche of Drake. Nice try, Spotify – but brainwashing will not work on us.

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Go to school… and get a good job that can afford you a comfortable living. When that job is $150,000 good – take it, keep it and shut up. However, Luke Holden, a then 25-year-old investment banker would probably disagree with that advice. With the help of Craigslist – yes, Craigslist, Holden found Ben Conniff, a 20-something freelance food writer to join him in the creation of “Luke’s Lobster.”

Don’t quit your day job… to run a single 200-square-foot lobster shack in New York. Luke may heed this advice because he waited until his company opened a second location to quit his day job, take a $30,000 salary and bring his worried mother to tears. The decision was made to continue running a lobster shack that frequently ran out of plasticware and change for customers. Also, just for some added fun, the air conditioning in the shack broke all the time.

Okay, don’t listen to me… because nine years later, what started out as a one-shack “passion project” has become a global food brand with $30 million in sales and around 500 employees. The founders of Luke’s Lobster attribute embracing risk, following their gut and a willingness to accept advice from mentors to the company’s success. Seriously, these guys did whatever it took to make their business work.

So, if you have recently quit your job, befriended a Craigslist stranger and made your mother cry – you either made a huge mistake or a great move.

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Not sure what “brake-and-roll” testing entails… but it sounds important. It sounded important to investors, as well because Tesla stock dropped more than 7% after discovering the company decided to skip that particular test on its Model 3 cars.

The test is redundant… according to Tesla. The company did manage to meet its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars in just one week. However, many are wondering if the suspended test is redundant or if it was removed to help the company speed up production.

Your brakes will probably work… because every car built still goes through brake tests, according to Tesla. They also want you to know that all vehicles have their brakes and alignment tested before leaving the factory. So the brakes are good – try to avoid the rolling part.

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It’s not a real holiday… but it sure sounds like one and Amazon’s ‘Prime Day’ just got six hours longer. Last year’s special event was the largest sales day in company history. Apart from sales, the tech giant hopes to drum up even more interest in the brand and recruit more Prime users.

It begins on July 16 at 3 p.m. ET… and there will be special deals on the Echo, Fire TV, and Fire tablets. There will also be discounts on security cameras and internet-connected doorbells, courtesy of Ring who was purchased by Amazon back in February. Last but not least, there will be deals at Whole Foods stores for all of you health nuts!

You will have to wait and see… what other deals are offered on Prime Day. The company will be sure to highlight its brand but has promised more than a million deals around the world. With tens of millions Prime customers purchasing something during last year’s event there has got to be something you need – or don’t need but will buy anyway.

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Let’s take a trip down memory lane… going back to 2012 when the economy was down but on its way back. That year was the last time mall vacancy rates were at the level they are now (8.6%). There were way too many malls and not enough businesses to fill them.

Fast-forward to 2018… and welcome to the world of online shopping. Brick-and-mortar is still alive, but it may not be “well” due to the rapid growth of e-commerce. While online shopping only accounts for one-tenth of retail sales, it is growing at a much faster rate.

This time it is a little different… because America wiggles out of recessions. Now we are seeing retail stores closing in droves, even though the economy is doing well. The number of major store closings more than tripled to 7,000 in 2017. The ‘retail apocalypse’ is upon us, and it is so real that it even has its own Wikipedia page. And if we learned anything in school, it is that Wikipedia is 100% accurate, 100% of the time.

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Fireworks are not safe… however, I am not here to bore you with the dangers of mixing alcohol and explosives – you can figure that one out. I am here to let you know that fireworks are a $1.24 billion industry and our friends in China are the leading exporter of them. With the Trump administration compiling a $200 billion list of products to slap duties on, fireworks are fair game.

Okay, they are safe for now… because companies like Jake’s Fireworks, American Promotional and Phantom have stocked up for America’s 242^nd birthday. Yes, the 4^th of July is America’s unofficial season for fireworks. Every firework company knows this and prepares accordingly.

As if they weren’t expensive enough… the taxes would likely be passed on to the firework-buying party animals themselves. Given that 85.6% of the world’s fireworks come from China, you may be paying a little extra to celebrate the birth of America next year.

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Elon Musk has made shareholders a lot of money… despite not making a lot of money. Heck – the company lost nearly $2 billion last year and used up $3.4 billion in cash after capital investments. Yet Tesla’s stock is up close to 2,000% since its IPO on June 29, 2010.

Investors seem to like so-called disruptors… and are buying into companies like Tesla that are finding ways to survive in a rapidly changing world. Other companies that focus on near-term profit often don’t stick around long enough for that metric to even matter.

A bet on the future… because our dear friend Elon might just disrupt the entire auto industry and own a lion’s share of the market as the world moves toward electric cars. Similarly, Netflix is another company with sky-high equity returns without much profitability. This is being made possible by the company’s ability to succeed in the future on a large scale. These companies are throwing investment dollars away like hot potatoes and investors are loving it.

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Traveling abroad is overrated… but stuffing your face with foreign McDonald’s food is all the rage. If you can convince yourself of that, your wallet will thank you and McDonald’s is now giving you that option. The fast-food chain’s eatery headquarters, located in Chicago, is now offering the favorites of our worldwide compadres.

You have had the quarter-pounder… but what about a quarter-pounder topped with blue cheese? Or how about the wasabi fries which are popular in Hong Kong? There is also a Sausage McMuffin Tomato Salad with your name on it. A couple of other highlights include an Australian McCafé area and a Latin-America style dessert center.

It also includes… things that you want, but probably don’t have at your local McDonald’s such as self-order kiosks and an app that allows you to pay and order on your phone. They also have things you probably don’t want, like table service (at McDonald’s, really?). If you are in the area, be sure to stop in so that our nation’s large fast-food chain can show you just how creative and diverse they can get.

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