Skip to main content

tv   The Willis Report  FOX Business  February 17, 2015 5:00pm-6:01pm EST

5:00 pm
fault. banks we're only talking 270 billion u.s. dollars. what will happen, banks swallow it. they took a haircut already in 2012. david: hillary. thank you very much. liz: "willis report" is next. thanks for joining us. >> hello, everybody, i'm gerri willis and this is "the willis report. the show where consumers are our business. after staying out of the fray for months the obama administration tries to broker a deal in the west coast ports dispute but can the white house end the labor fight which already started to damage businesses and the economy? america in a deep freeze. >> heaviest snows did fall to the south. picked up three to six inches of fluffy snow. gerri: states of emergency in the south as the federal government shuts down. roads, rail, air travel are disrupted. costco no longer takes the american express card. what does the split mean for shoppers and will other companies follow suit? also the feds pushing super lowdown payments on mortgages.
5:01 pm
>> adjustment from 5% to 3% will open up to a lot of people that really couldn't afford it otherwise. gerri: is the government going to wreck the housing market again. they defined the disco era. they will release their first new album in a decade. harry casey, of kc and the sunshine band will talk about life and what keeps him going after all these years. that is coming up on "the willis report" where consumers are our business. the nation tonight in lockdown. snow and ice storms shutting businesses and schools. on the west coast the nation's biggest ports in a labor lockdown as port managers close the doors to dock workers. more on the weather in a moment but first the white house angling to end the port fight, a dispute that lasted months and is poised to end the fragile economic recovery. we have guy benson.
5:02 pm
townhall.com. and diana furchtgott-roth, from the labor department. i will start with you, guy. what impact will this have? levi said we're not getting out for spring because automakers not getting parts. what dominoes will fall. >> there is ripple effect, gerri. you have the longshoremen forum tenet time having a big labor dispute with management. as a result is is hurting shipping companies coming in. it is hurting consumers trying to get products at reasonable prices. hurting employees of big businesses. even hurting their fellow union workers at the teamsters who have seen their work level trickle down to almost nothing. so this is something that is absolutely affecting and hurting the u.s. economy. gerri: absolutely. diana, to you, you're a labor expert here, my friend. tell us a little bit how this dispute in particular is very different from others. >> well it is actually similar
5:03 pm
to the 2003 west coast port dispute. -- 2002. every few years they have to renegotiate the contract there are slowdowns. there isn't a strike. there are slowdowns, that is heavily affecting different companies. both the exporters that need to get the agricultural products out and importers need to get things in. it needs to move ports to the railroad labor act from the national relations labor act. gerri: what would that do? >> would end slowdowns because what they're seeing right now. gerri: because they have to continue work under existing contract. >> exactly. gerri: this is fascinating the way this works. what was the specific issue that set this up? what have they not solved yet, diana? >> they seem to be focused on job security. what i called the longshoreman's union, they said they were focused on job security. that means they don't want more automation. they don't want any of the new
5:04 pm
technology coming in on other industries. they just want to keep this the way it was in the middle of the last century. and it makes it very difficult for our importers and for our export years the economy has changed so much. diana, you're right to point out kind of lethargy in these discussions. i want to make the point how deep these problems are. the west coast ports move 12.5% of america's gdp it is expected to cost retailers some $7 billion this year? beef and pork producers alone, $30 million a week. this is going to have legs. this will impact the economy. it could be very important. >> it is already, yes it is already impacting it. just as railroads were moved under a different scene in the 1920s, airlines were added in the 1950s. time to move ports to the railroad labor act too. gerri: there is a political portion to this story bite, right? we have labor secretary out there trying to get an end to this.
5:05 pm
is that possible? is it likely? is he somebody well-regarded on both sides of the table? >> well i mean he can do what he possibly, you know, he will make his moves. we'll see how it turns out. ultimately i think this is so interesting listening to what diana was saying and reading the accounts of this. you have these labor union guys who are trying to freeze sort of technology in place decades ago. they are almost ludites here. they're fighting technology and automation, while at the same time hurting u.s. economy. they're not doing themselves any favors prwise here. and the more they carry on the big stuff they have apparently already dealt with. health care has been agreed upon. up keep of some of their machinery has been agreed upon. they're fighting on nitty-gritty things. gerri: all right. >> dragging down the economy with them. this is not a way to endear yourself to a lot of people. gerri: got to get you guys to another topic. big obamacare headlines i want to you handle. five governors louisiana
5:06 pm
mississippi, north carolina, nebraska south carolina and wisconsin, governors, republican governors, all not willing to create a local exchange to hand out subsidies for obamacare. as you know this is coming before the supreme court early next month. diana, to you what is the impact of this? >> well the impact is going to be that congress needs to pass some kind of legislation if king wins in king versus burrwell. if the subsidies are disallowed in 37 states. these exchanges will fall apart. 80% of people on obamacare in, have subsidies. that is about 6.5 million people have subsidies. if they don't have the subsidies, the exchanges are going to fall apart. that means no employer mandate. and no individual mandate either according to judge griffin of the u.s. circuit court. gerri: guy, to you, a political question. seems like the administration is going to try a workaround for
5:07 pm
this. is that going to be the cure? is that going to, fix the situation? how will republicans going to respond? >> we, right, i think the question is, what is congress going to do because if the supreme court strikes down these subsidies, i think part of their reasoning will probably be, this is congress's job to fix a law that congress screwed up. it is democrats who wrote the law the way it is, in black and white these folks should not be eligible for subsidies under federal exchange. congress has to fix. that republicans make the argument why should we have to come to the rescue of a law that democrats wrote poorly we opposed from very beginning. we need to start over. gerri: i want both of you guys to come back to talk more about that topic. guy, diana thanks for being on the show. >> thank you gerri. >> great to be with you. gerri: thank you. the weather locking people down right? near record low temperatures and ice sweeping through the south, leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
5:08 pm
more than a foot of snow falling in parts of missouri illinois, kentucky west virginia. a thousand flights have been grounded just today. that is a total of almost six thousand canceled flights nationwide since sunday because of back-to-back winter storms. take a look at the time-lapse video from the white house. snow shut down federal offices in d.c. first time this winter. small pleasures right? boston can not catch a break. city continues to get pounded with snow. janice dean in the fox news weather center with all the details. janice dean. >> we have to stop meeting like this gerri. i know boston. would you believe this latest storm, most of country is clearing out but look at boston. we're still seeing some snow in this area. this storm should be out of here, but keeps on lingering they're approaching their second snowiest season on record.
5:09 pm
95.7 inches. you needless than an inch to get to the second snowiest season. by the end of the month it will be the snowiest season in boston. we're just setting records all over the map and the potential for more snow in the forecast on thursday and the weekend. let's look at busy winter pattern as we head through the work week. we're stuck in the trough. this means more snow and cold weather for our friends in the northeast. we're not just talking about boston. 100 inches of snow in bangor maine. syracuse and buffalo 96 inches. we're in a snow deficit in philadelphia. we're right around average for new york city. now the big story over next couple days is going to be the extreme cold where we will set cold weather records. look at these temperatures. this is windchill on wednesday at 3:00 p.m. some cases minus 20 to minus 35 degrees what it will feel like. we'll set records on friday. in chicago looks like detroit
5:10 pm
louisville, washington, d.c. and new york as well. so it is going to get cold as we head through the next few days. look at morning lows for the deep south. atlanta, georgia minus three in nashville. 20 in montgomery. charleston, you could set a record on friday as well as almost tying the record here in savannah. as cold as far south as florida where they could also set some records. look at this. orlando, 38, 33 degrees in orlando on friday. even miami at 41. these folks don't have heat. this is going to be the next few days will be pretty trying for friends in south florida. this pattern is not going anywhere. i want to make mention our friends across the west are doing quite nicely with dry, warm conditions. and rest of the country is stuck into the winter. look at this gerri. we get into next seven days. more of wintry mix across the mid-south. more snow across ohio valley and northeast. boston mark my words it will be snowiest season on record
5:11 pm
this month. gerri: don't have far to go. it is february. >> i know i know. might as well break records if they're going to do it, break some records. gerri: okay. be number one. be number two if you have a bad season. janice, thank you. >> okay. gerri: here is our question tonight, do you have cabin fever? log on to gerriwillis.com and vote. i will share results at the end of tonight's show. we have more to come this hour. latest fallout on the fight between costco and american express. up next student loan debt topping a trillion dollars new wall street backed companies say they can help you cut your debt. can they keep their promise? ♪
5:12 pm
the lightest or nothing. the smartest or nothing. the quietest or nothing. the sleekest... ...sexiest ...baddest ...safest, ...tightest, ...quickest... ...harshest... ...or nothing. at mercedes-benz, we do things one way or we don't do them at all. the 2015 c-class. see your authorized mercedes- benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. you get sick you can't breathe through your nose suddenly, you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe
5:13 pm
right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38% more. so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. and look for the calming scent of new breathe right lavender in the sleep aisle.
5:14 pm
5:15 pm
gerri: with student loan debt weighing in at more than $1.1 trillion, no wonder wall street is backing companies that say they can cut student debt. is this too good to be true? we have a college financing website and a good one. mark, thanks for coming on the show tonight, appreciate it. these companies common bond so far are becoming very common. wall street pumping them out now. behind these companies big investors. tell me what kind of, what do they do for you can't do yourself. >> well, they refinance the loans of borrowers who have excellent credit. gerri: can i do that myself? >> well, if you have private student loans, you have to have very good credit in order to refinance then. there aren't that many lenders that offer borrowers the chance to reduce the interest rate. gerri: do they save a significant amount of money in your view? >> they can save some amount of money. sometimes they overstate the amount of savings.
5:16 pm
not just the interest rate. it is also a change in the repayment term which is something that you could do on your own. >> okay. so you say for a lot of students out there, the amount of the debt isn't the problem, it is not the cost of the debt that is the problem, it is no the interest rate which they're really solving for, it is the amount of the debt and what do they do about that? >> they aren't forgiving the principle of these loans. they are simply reducing the interest rate. even if you were to get a loan with zero interest rate you still have to pay back the principle balance. gerri: that's what we're talking about here. people facing tens of thousand of dollars. i some folks, i saw a loan of $200,000 for somebody. how will they ever pay that back? >> very challenging. gerri: what is your best advice. >> so long as your total student loan debt at graduation less than your annual income you can pay it back in 10 years or less. when your debt exceeds the income you struggle to make the loan payments. >> right. exactly right. that is a nice rule of thumb for
5:17 pm
folks out there who might be considering college right now deciding which offer to accept. you make an interesting point i think that consolidating loans is not always the right thing. why? >> well, when you have separate loans, if one loan has a much higher interest rate than the others, you can target that loan for quicker repayment. there are no prepayment penalties on federal private student loans. when you con sodate, you merge that into single loan. you no longer can accelerate repayment of the highest rate loan. gerri: i want to show the basics on one of these companies common bond. offer fixed rates of 3.79% to 7.24%. variable rates go to 7.4%. refinance up to 220,000. do you think a lot of people will take advantage of these offers? >> the main problem is whether you will qualify for these loans. they mainly target graduate and professional school student who have excellent credit and get good jobs after graduation.
5:18 pm
if you're struggling to repay your loans you're not likely to get one of these refinances. >> this just plagues people for years and years. i want to show some numbers from pew research. they show a grad's net worth if they don't borrow student loan money at $64,700. this is for a graduate. your net worth, if you do, 8700 bucks. very very different. what does that mean for somebody starting out their life after graduation? >> people who graduate with too much debt tend to delay life cycle events. every dollar in loan payments is a dollar less available for other priorities, buying a car, getting married, buying a house saving for retirement. all that gets delayed. gerri: mark, thanks for coming on the show. >> thank you for having me. >> the up next company after company dropping american express. what that means for you coming up. later in the show an exclusive interview with philly fed president charles plosser. he is breaking with most of his colleagues on the fed when it comes to interest rates. you will want to hear this.
5:19 pm
tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*? the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do.
5:20 pm
5:21 pm
you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had a liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. new car replacement is just one of the features that come standard with a base liberty mutual policy. and for drivers with accident forgivness,rates won't go up due to your first accident. learn more by calling switch to liberty mutual and you can save up to $423. for a free quote today,call liberty mutual insurance at see car insurance in a whole new
5:22 pm
light. liberty mutual insurance. gerri: amex is getting swiped or rather sideswiped. sources tell "wall street journal" that jetblue will be latest company to ground its agreement with american express. this comes after costco earlier this month ended a 16-year agreement with the card company. what does it mean for consumers and is amex losing a foothold with its wealthy clients. we're asking a financial expert with nerd wallet.com. great to have you here. what is going on here? first costco, had exclusive agreement with costco. a very popular company and big part of amex's business and now jetblue. how do you read this? >> a few things are happening, two big forces at play.
5:23 pm
one with the jetblue scenario. specifically we're talking about a marketplace for cobranded credit cards is getting heated, very competitive. gerri: just not to interrupt they had a cobranded credit card costco and amex, true earnings card right? >> right. with costco more of a price competition. costco, second biggest retailer by revenue, they are, their customers are loyal to them for price. pretty much price only. i've been to costco. it is not really an experience. you go there to get the best price. couple years ago they ended ties with coca-cola and turned to pepsi when they wanted to keep prices at their food court flat. so i think with costco it really like, we're costco. whether you're a chilly whether you're a wine distributor from chile or credit card company we want to control prices. >> control the brands and control prices. jetblue coming on board here too. the big question is we think of amex as having a hold on affluent cardholders, and it
5:24 pm
appears they're losing that grip. what is going on? >> competitors are coming into the space. also if you just look at listen to anecdotes around the country, i'm an american express card holder sometimes i'm disappointed getting letters in the mail we're no longer having lounges in the airports. the fact is competitors want a piece of this wealthier marketplace. and american express is really trying to harder with better, lower fees for merchants. better red carpet vip access for cardholders. it is getting a lot more competitive. they're having an identity crisis gerri. gerri: talk about what happened at costco. 20% of amex's costco deal represents 20% of its worldwide loans. think about that. it is a huge part of that irmarket, a huge part of that business. jetblue saying this, this is the points review for regular jetblue flyer. those traveling a handful of times each year this card should be a no-brainer. at top end of the value system,
5:25 pm
getting 13 cents back on dollar, nice rate of return. those are nice words about amex somebody that supports amex. we're seeing erosion of their what was really monopoly on really wealthy customers. talk a little bit about people angling for that business. we have barclays in the business right? >> right. barclays and mastercard teaming up reportedly with jetblue. we don't know who costco will partner up with. that will be announced later next week or end of this week. really the big headline here is that american express is losing its foothold in the wealthier client and marketplace and cart relationships are getting very competitive. gerri: here is my bottom line. do you hang on to the amex card or not? >> that is a huge question. we don't know enough right now to decide what to do. consumers will have choices. you will either be able to transfer the account to another american express card. gerri: at costco? >> at costco or leave that card and go to another american express card. whether everyday card that has
5:26 pm
no annual fee. or go with whatever new cobranded card will be or use cash or checkbook. gerri: always cash. >> always cash. gerri: good to see you. thank you. >> thank you. gerri: tonight's "strange inheritance" is back. two episodes of the fox business hit show we get introduced to a family that inherits a massive collection of rust-covered automobiles from the 1940s. here is a sneak-peek. >> there is about 20 hem. they're mostly american cars. they're prewar which is pre-1942 it. very rare cars. because the start of world war ii they started limiting production. you could only get one from a ration coupon. >> stewart and the vet make plans for one-day auction here on the salvage lot. word begins to spread about oliver jordan's old treasures. stewart soon learns that is not all together a good thing. >> now that junkyard episode is followed by a look at a family
5:27 pm
inheriting, get this a bug museum. "strange inheritance" airs 9:00 p.m. eastern on fox business. catch it. coming up washington is pushing super lowdown payments for mortgages but is 3% down enough? could it damage the housing market and the value of your home? growing split in the federal reserve over when to raise interest rates. we'll have exclusive interview with one member not afraid to speak his mind. ♪ the world is filled with air. but for people with copd sometimes breathing air can be difficult. if you have copd, ask your doctor about once-daily anoro ellipta. it helps people with copd breathe better for a full 24hours. anoro ellipta is the first fda-approved product containing two long-acting bronchodilators in one inhaler. anoro is not for asthma.
5:28 pm
anoro contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. it is not known if this risk is increased in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden copd symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, or high blood pressure. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, prostate or bladder problems, or problems passing urine as anoro may make these problems worse. call your doctor right away if you have worsened breathing chest pain, swelling of your mouth or tongue, problems urinating or eye problems including vision changes or eye pain while taking anoro. nothing can reverse copd. the world is filled with air and anoro is helping people with copd breath air better. get your first prescription free at anoro.com. startup-ny. it's working for new york state. already 55 companies are investing over $98 million dollars and creating over 2100 jobs. from long island to all across upstate new york,
5:29 pm
more businesses are coming to new york. they are paying no property taxes no corporate taxes no sales taxes. and with over 300 locations, and 3.7 million square feet available, there's a place that's right for your business. see if startup-ny can work for you. go to startup.ny.gov. your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do.
5:30 pm
we're legalzoom, and over the last 10 years, we've helped millions of people protect their families and run their businesses. we have the right people on-hand to answer your questions backed by a trusted network of attorneys. so visit us today for legal help you can count on. legalzoom. legal help is here. welcome back to the willis report. in a moment, an exclusive look at the future of interest rates. but time now for a look at other stories in the news. fires are continuing to burn in west virginia after a train derailed yesterday, carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil. twenty cars caught fire
5:31 pm
or exploded, while one fell into the river. no word on the cause of the derailment which happened south of charleston. a federal judge blocked president obama's executive action on immigration which was supposed to go into effect tomorrow. the 26 states suing would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction. the white house said it will appeal the ruling. president obama's defense secretary made his debut. ashton carter was sworn in today. carter is obama's fourth secretary of defense replacing chuck hagel. the winter weather impacting mardi gras, as revelers are faced with temperatures in the 30s. it kicked off with a fat tuesday parade. celebrations winding down by midnight when lent began. you should mark your calendars, coming up the most important event
5:32 pm
for your money. the fed expected to raise interest rates in june. some economists think it's a tough call. but philly fed charles thought it was a no-brainer. peter joins us now. >> that's right. he thinks that the economy is healthy enough and is growing fast enough to start raising short-term interest rates. he thinks the economy could grow at 3% a year this year. and going forward. but i asked him okay well, what could knock that off track? we have a lot of things going on around the world, isis ukraine, the situation with greece leaving the eurozone. and here in the u.s. the union slow down at west coast ports. i asked about all those things. here's what he said. >> mostly not terribly troubling, at least for the us economy. look at the port challenges on the west coast, that's troubling. it is a headwind.
5:33 pm
it's a shock, if you will. but it will only be transitory. at some point it will go away. europe has been frankly in trouble for a number of years now. this is not -- not something that's either new or totally unexpected. it's a challenge. europe has very low potential growth. very challenging growth prospects in europe. but that's been true for a long time. i don't see that as particularly troubling. the bigger challenges are the things that are the most unknown, some of the geopolitical issues whether it be ukraine or isis. what will happen that will perhaps blow those things up in ways that could be damaging to the global economy, not just the u.s. remember, the us economy is still mostly a closed economy. we depend on trade. it's important but it's not the most important thing. you can compare us to switzerland, for example. switzerland is an economy that depends vitally with trade with europe. europe is in trouble
5:34 pm
switzerland is in trouble because of that. for us, we're not that sensitive to international movements. >> we came to philadelphia today because charlie is retiring after eight years as head of the philadelphia federal reserve bank. he gave his last big speech today. in it, he was defending the fed and its independence and attacked legislation on capitol hill, such as audit the fed legislation, that he said could jeopardize the fed's independence. came strongly against that in his final tv interview with us today. gerri: what does he say about interest rates peter? >> well, charlie is known as an inflation hawk and he actually would have liked to start raising interest rates yesterday, if we could have. but he would like the fed to raise rates sooner rather than later to get this process going. if the economy continues to grow and if it starts
5:35 pm
to accelerate and interest goes up faster, he wants to make sure the fed has launched interest rate increases. i tried to pin him down on a date. june as we heard other fed members talk about, but we wouldn't get pinned down. on the other hand he's leaving in a couple of weeks and won't have a vote anymore. he was cheering or yelling from the sidelines. gerri. gerri: peter, thanks for that. thank you for your time. should the fed raise rates? june possibly too late. john lonski, moody's chief economist. you heard him talking about the importance of doing it right away. do you think the fed will move in june as expected? >> i think there is a pretty good chance. but a rate hike is far from being a slam-dunk. we're getting a price deflation that included oil. suppose these sink. if the fed hikes rates,
5:36 pm
that will push prices even lower. another consideration is the reaction of the dollar exchange rate. the dollar has taken off against major foreign currencies. if the fed hikes rates it runs the risk of an unwanted further appreciation of the dollar that will hurt us businesses down the road. gerri: so the fed has described the economy as solid. economic activity has been expanding. strong gains and a lower unemployment rate. what are the factors you think that could put us in the situation where they should wait? >> well, i think the economy might be growing in terms of quarter to quarter real gdp growth. 4% in the third quarter. the current quarter first quarter of 2015, i see -- i think growth is coming in at two and a quarter percent. the labor market is so hot. payroll grew by 400,000 down to 250.
5:37 pm
that will go lower. as well as surveys conducted by district federal reserve banks. gerri: i think the conversation is always about, what will happen to the stock market? howl people respond if these rates hike up? (?) whether they do it in june or earlier -- i'm sorry. >> markets are so very important. financial markets are not telling the fed that it's imperative to hike rates as soon as possible. financial markets aren't worried about inflation at this point in time. they're still worried about lower than expected prices. a loss of pricing power among businesses that squeezes margins that could eventually lead to layoffs. >> i think it's interesting what you say. there is a skill of thought that deflation can come to this country just as it did in japan. are you in that school? >> i think the risk is more towards deflation. however, i think in the final analysis, we should be more worried about too lower rate of
5:38 pm
inflation. if you have inflation going down to 1%, that's an average rate. that tells me that perhaps wider one third of businesses are suffering from outright deflation. that might be too much of a burden for the us economy. gerri: we've been more than six years with basically zero rates. it's been a long, long time. i'm talking about how the market will respond. what about the rest of us? what kind of shock will the economy go into when we raise rates? >> the small savior saver will say hallelujah. they'll welcome the rate because they'll get a perceptible rate of increase on their fund accounts. by the end of this year, the federal funds rate will be in a range of one half to 3-quarters of a percent, savings accounts will be paying less than 1%. >> there's no break for those people. thank you. good to see you. when we come back, the lead singer of casey and
5:39 pm
the sunshine band is telling us how technology is changing the entire industry. 3% down, back again in the housing market. but are we just setting ourselves up for another fall? we debate the future of the industry and what it means for consumers coming up. but first here's your consumer gauge with the numbers that mean to the the most to you.
5:40 pm
5:41 pm
5:42 pm
♪ gerri: low down payments are making a comeback. to jump-start the housing market, mortgage companies are offering home loans with 3% down payments. is this the right approach by mortgage lenders? auction.com rick and john fun with the national review.
5:43 pm
rick, i'll start with you. so you remember that little mortgage meltdown we had, one of the problems was that credit was too easy. now you'll favor 3% down mortgages. you'll only put down a teeny tiny 3% and you think that's a good idea. tell me why that could be a good idea. (?) >> i think anything that stimulates the housing market and brings more responsible home buyers back into the marketplace is a good thing for the housing market and for the overall economy. you and i actually met during the middle of that meltdown, and you remember that all those bad practices that went into place. and there are safeguards in place today that simply didn't exist back in 2000 to 2006 when all those loans were being made. we're talking about a -- this is not your grandfather's low down payment mortgage. this is a different flavor. gerri: we'll get to that. i want opening statements. john if you fudd, i know you don't agree with that.
5:44 pm
shouldn't we juice that housing market with federal policy, what do you say? >> in theory. but remember how badly freddie mac and fannie mae acted in 2008. half the mortgages were subprime and owned by fannie and freddie. i don't trust them that they've learned their lesson. secondly, there may be safeguards in place, but there are all kinds of barriers to operate more in the housing market. penalties if people don't pay their mortgages back. lawsuits the government has launched against banks that sold them subprime. there are a lot of reasons why banks are leery about going back in just lowering it to 3% to 5% isn't going to solve the problem if you don't address the underlying problems of dodd-frank and regulatory pressure. gerri: 3%, is it that big of a deal? >> actually i find myself nodding in agreement with john. one of the safeguards in place is that just
5:45 pm
because fannie and freddie said they'll expect loans with 3% down payment doesn't mean those lenders will write those loans. this is a small fraction of the lending pool for 2015. but i do think it will make it possible for qualified borrowers who have all the other criteria in place except for down payment funds to participate in the market. gerri: they'll increase the amount of gift money. i.e. loans from mom and dad that you can use toward a down payment. john, what would it take for the housing market to make a true rebound? i mean, we've seen improvements, but it's been largely professional buyers. sec laters outspeculators out there. what will it get the first time buyers, the millennials out there to buy it en masse. >> i don't know if we'll ever go back to a housing market that people trust and that taxpayers won't be exposed on. the time to have wound
5:46 pm
down fannie and freddie was 2008 when they failed so spectacularly. the more we'll see gimmicks and short-term fixes, which ultimately make us feel good, but don't ultimately lead to a robust, long-term housing market. gerri: i have to tell you that lack of confidence there's a lack of confidence in the housing market. even in the stock market, even with its performance, people don't trust it. rick, to you i mentioned before the gift money and how that's changing. also there's a lowered minimum credit score for fha loans. the minimum goes to 600 from 640. come on. these people can barely fog a mirror. right? this seems maybe a little too loosy-goosy. >> again, i think we go back to theory versus reality. there are companies that are writing loans for people with -- with credit scores below -- below 650. but very, very few.
5:47 pm
and i think realistically we're in those weird situations where there's not that much inventory to demand. relatively week demand. and credit on average is twice as hard to get as it would be historically. there's these little outliers where people make loans that don't fit nicely into the rule boxes that the government has put into place. but the reality at the moment is also that 96% of all lending has a government stamp on it. it's probably not a situation any of us really want, but it's the reality right now. gerri: amen. rick and john, thank you for coming on the show tonight. appreciate your words of wisdom. thank you. and still to come, my "2 cents more." and, next, get this, the lead singer of one of the biggest bands of the 1970s. harry casey from kc and the sunshine band. ♪
5:48 pm
5:49 pm
5:50 pm
5:51 pm
gerri: tonight, they've been together for over 40 years and have sold over 100 million records. and you'd probably be living under a rock if you haven't rocked out to some of their iconic disco hits. lead singer harry wayne casey is here. feeling you the '60s. casey, you tell me, what have you been up to? what's been going on? what is this new music about? >> hi, gerri. it's a two-year project. started in december of 2012. i started making this new album. originally was going to
5:52 pm
be original material. it's a two-release set. gerri: you're still touring. >> seventeen songs from the '60s. and we're touring, yes. gerri: i'm shocked. so you're doing 100 shows every year. that's amazing. >> we do colorado, last weekend at the world alpine ski championships. we're headed to europe and south america and throughout the us this year. gerri: i love it. (?) you know, your music is the sound of my youth. which one is your favorite to perform? what do you like to perform? >> you know,, gerri i enjoy doing all of them. gerri: come on. come on now. >> all right. okay. "get down tonight." gerri: really, that's the one? >> yes. gerri: i have to say, i like them all too. i think a lot of our viewers are so familiar with this music. it's
5:53 pm
so iconic when you sit down and make a new album, are you relaunching disco with this album? >> dance music is bigger than it has ever been in 2015. and so, when i started doing this, believe it or not more danceable than i've ever done before, the new album. and i -- it started out with a d.j. in europe who sent me some tracks. i started adapting those tracks to fit in with kc and the sunshine band. it's a mixture of old and new which is what is happening anyway right now. i'm very excited about it. it's songs about love. really, my songs were about love. and being in love, wanting to be in love, wanting to be loved and wanting to love someone. gerri: i think that's a very popular theme casey. that's for sure. you really invented disco. what makes disco disco
5:54 pm
in your view? what does it have to have? >> that's interesting. people have been dancing since the beginning of time. and when i started the chriskc and the sunshine band thing, i loved to dance i wanted to do an album that was all up tempo and i wanted the message to be positive. so that's what i set out to do. dance music is just about a positive energy, a positive message, you know, it's just something that when you hear it, it gets into your soul and you can't stop -- not move. gerri: here's the business part of the segment. we have to have a business part of the segment. commercial featuring your music hyundai directv, burger king, kraft, the list goes on and on, my friend. you've done deals with everybody. >> we have. and we're still doing deals. a brand-new movie called the kings men.
5:55 pm
and commercials are sometimes either paid (?) by a flat rate or they're union. movies are all flat-rate. gerri: we're showing video from the kingsmen, and you're part of that. so exciting. i'm hearing good things about the movie. does something like that sort of offset what's going on with music download sales which are so negative right now? >> well, it definitely does. i mean, you have to -- i mean it's an extra income. and it's always welcomed. and i'm glad that my music, you know, works -- is -- for commercials as it does for motion pictures. sets up a scene for a certain time. my music was definitely a part of a certain period in all our lives. gerri: forty years, my friend. thank you for coming on the show.
5:56 pm
>> thank you gerri. gerri: we'll be right back with my "2 cents more" and the answer to the question of the day. do you have cabin fever? ♪
5:57 pm
5:58 pm
5:59 pm
gerri: do you have cabin fever after this punishing february? we asked the question on gerriwillis.com. 27% said yes. 73% said no. y'all live in the south. we talked about how the country is in lockdown between the freezing weather and the west coast ports dispute. it's not just lockdown. it's stagnation. while economists debate when the federal reserve should stop goosing the economy. the rest face flat wages. consumer sentiment is off. we lost our mojo because there's simply no leadership in the country right now. we're adrift. washington isn't taking
6:00 pm
command. that's my "2 cents more." that's it for tonight's willis report. "making money" with charles payne is coming up next. have a great night. we'll see you right back here tomorrow. ♪ charles: i'm charles payne and you're watching "making money." overcoming that three-day hangover. stocks seesawed back and forth. s&p 500 above 2100 and the dow back above 18,000. oil hits a new 2015 high. and apple well they're making a bit. drive you around town. no word yet, i hear maybe an itoaster is on the way. i certainly was like apple pay and all the other things. we'll talk about how to make big money on it. we'll first go to adam shapiro on the floor of the new york stock exchange. adam. >> it was a record day on wall street charles. and we are pushing even higher into record territory. let's start first with the dow, which is just six points shy of it

301 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on