“My friend showed me a photo of a famous meteor crater in Arizona. It’s amazing how close it landed to the Visitor’s Center!” Here in Tucson, the weather is fine but “tornado season” has hit with a vengeance in other parts of the United States. Anyone who thinks that the severity of storms is declining should reconsider. (Catastrophe and disaster updates below.) For some good news, call it “kicking the can down the road” or a “budget plan,” but Congress passed the budget appropriations bill, and it was signed by President Trump over the weekend. In six months we’ll get to watch it all over again. But for lenders, kicking the can down the road is not an option. Our MBA presented the IMB profit figures: tepid at best, and some would say indicate that there will be no easy sledding ahead. “Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a pre-tax net loss of $40 on each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease from the reported net profit of $701 per loan in the third quarter of 2024… (lots of stats below). (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by CoreLogic. Whether it’s using cash to purchase a home, debt consolidation, or a straight cash-out refinance, CoreLogic’s Precision Marketing’s data-driven insights pinpoint your best opportunities to retain and recapture your clients. Today’s has an interview with CMG and WIMIN’s Sharon Barney on experiences, challenges, and successes of women in the mortgage industry.)