People who don’t attend the National Secondary here in Manhattan wonder what happens behind the scenes. Here you go. We had the MCT elevator failure last night, inconveniencing a carload of mortgage folks between floors. There is definitely an older crowd at the conference. I was walking by one fellow who had asked a non-QM rep for her number, and she replied “140 over 95.” Fewer wing tips and high heels, and more tennis shoes and talk of Fab Feet products. What are capital markets personnel talking about in the hallways? One issue is the rating agency Moody’s cutting the credit quality of the United States given our debt situation: it certainly won’t help lending rates. (Our nation isn’t approaching B or C or subprime status, but the current budget proposal adding trillions of dollars of debt won’t help.) Fox News reports that President Trump warned Walmart to eat the cost of the tariffs instead of raising prices, despite thin retail margins. The MBA’s expectation is that the U.S. economy will slow down due to the tariffs, and that their impact on the new home market, appliance cost, HVAC cost, will hurt housing affordability, not help it. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Xactus and its commitment to the continued transformation of the mortgage verification industry. Pioneering a new class of technology, “Intelligent Verification,” Xactus is redefining how the industry originates and services mortgages. Today’s has an interview with Xactus’ Greg Holmes on how the company’s consultative approach, intelligent verification, and strategic partnerships are helping lenders.)