Friday is 'E' Day

The stock market continues its August swoon. (Okay, it's up as of this writing but look for it to turn down by close of day.) As I've noted before, consumers with their wealth tied up in equities must be feeling pretty poor these days - jumbo borrowers especially. If you're an investor where do you put your cash? Your choices are these: cash, gold, equities, real estate, and bonds. If you watch CNBC for a week you will see any number of experts (depending on when you watch) tell us that stocks may crash further, cash pays nothing, gold is over bought, and we all know the real estate story. Bonds? The jury is still out. So, where do you put your money? If I was that smart I wouldn't be writing this column. But mortgage servicers assuredly will have their eyes on the Friday employment number released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As layoffs go, so goes residential delinquencies. As Creedence Clearwater Revival once sang, "Who'll stop the rain?"