Misconceptions and misunderstandings… Capital markets folks at the MBA conference next week should know that The Naked Cowboy in Times Square is not really naked. Soon after his presidency, Jimmy Carter (who’s been on hospice care for 15 months) gave a speech at a Japanese college and told a joke. To his surprise, the Japanese interpreter’s version was much shorter than the actual joke as he said it, and the entire audience burst out laughing. It turns out that the interpreter couldn’t translate the joke, and admitted to telling the audience, “President Carter told a funny story. Everyone must laugh.” One big misconception that seems to continue in lending is that home buyers still need to come up with a 20 percent down payment. A misconception in our biz is a focus on volume. It should be on units: underwriters and LOs do X units per day or month, not a dollar volume. The MBA expects $1.5 or $2 trillion this year, but the units are expected to be the lowest in decades. Wrapping up on misconceptions, out in California, Etienne Constable was told to build a 6-foot fence to hide the boat from view of his neighbors… But he got an image of the boat painted onto the fence. (Found here, this week’s podcasts are sponsored by LoanCare. The mortgage subservicer is known for delivering superior customer experience through personalization and convenience. Its award-winning portfolio management tool, LoanCare Analytics, supports MSR investors with a focus on customer engagement, liquidity, and credit risk. Hear an interview with Loan Care’s Kevin Cooke and Eric Seabrook on a variety of topics germane to servicing, from prominent players in the MSR market and implications of fewer Fed rate cuts, to HELOC and second lien servicing.)