Lou Barnes

Contributor

After five years as Marketing Manager of a mountaineering clothing and equipment manufacturer and retailer (a great way to enjoy your 20s), Lou Barnes built 45-broker, two-office Spruce Real Estate in Colorado from 1978-83, spending most of his time guiding the firm through extremely high interest rates. The world of money was more fun for him than real estate, and Barnes sold Spruce and joined investment banking ranks for five years as Managing Partner of RCM Government Securities, a broker-dealer working on the early flow of mortgages to Wall Street and their related derivatives. Two of those years involved work on the heart of the savings and loan meltdown -- one of the "consultants" commuting to Texas, Arkansas and other Southwestern garden spots (fortunately, he spoke the language: his family were Okies), he was asked to figure out how deep the hole was going to be. He wrote one of the earliest accurate estimates of the ultimate cost in 1986, and was one of the first to address the necessary asset workouts. Some people thrive in a career on airplanes, and Barnes was not one of them. In 1988 the homebody began another career as a mortgage banker in Boulder, just in time to catch the terrible peak of foreclosures afflicting the greater "Oil Patch" and "Savings and Loan Belt." The firm, Boulder West, survived and thrived as a small mortgage bank -- very old-fashioned, strictly "A" paper, and based on long-term relationships with Realtors and past clients. Even with that strength, Boulder West closed in 2009, and Lou and many of his colleagues joined far-larger Premier Mortgage Group. As a marketing tool and for sanity, Lou has written a weekly column on the financial markets every Friday for 20 years.

Despite Fed cut, mortgages now more expensive

Commentary: Did Bernanke make the right move?

Sep 21

Fed rate cut likely next week

Commentary: Credit crunch's effect on housing could intensify

Sep 14

Jobs report puts mortgage rates in free-fall

Commentary: Fed rate cut now more likely

Sep 7

Bernanke blind to mortgage market trouble

Commentary: Fed rate cut may not help situation

Aug 31

Credit crunch reaches 'emergency' state

Mortgage market commentary

Aug 27

Fed steps in to help lenders, but is it too late?

Commentary: Credit crunch will likely hurt 'bubble zones,' economy

Aug 17

Credit squeeze reaches dramatic stage

Commentary: Central banks pour in cash, but underlying problem still alive

Aug 10

How bad will credit crunch get?

Mortgage market commentary

Aug 6

What's up with housing this week?

Mortgage market commentary

Jul 27

Bernanke: Housing will get worse

Mortgage market commentary

Jul 20

New loan guidance wrong for housing

Mortgage market commentary

Jul 16

Foreclosure damage to be worse than expected

Mortgage market commentary

Jul 13

Still afloat despite worst housing recession in 15 years

Mortgage market commentary

Jul 9

Legends and tales taking blame for housing downturn

Mortgage market commentary

Jun 29

Wall St. drunk on money and power

Mortgage market commentary

Jun 22

Asia's influence on U.S. interest rates

Mortgage market commentary

Jun 18

Can we expect a low-rate future?

Mortgage market commentary

Jun 8

Flat home prices perfect for economic shock

Mortgage market commentary

Jun 1

Why interest rates are going up

Mortgage market commentary

May 25

Bernanke wrong about subprime

Mortgage market commentary

May 18

Previous 1...31 323334 35...41 Next