Your Money Crasher Minute: What's the Over/Under on Mortgage Rates?

Welcome to this week's edition of your Money Crasher Minute Having trouble viewing this email? [Click here]( In partnership with[Upside-logo-scaled.jpeg]( # If you've ever entertained the question of whether investing is just [glorified gambling]( you're in luck because now the answer is a little clearer. In today's edition, Money Crashers COO Michael Pruser returns to update us on what has been an up-and-down week. [Jim_Cirigliano Headshot.png] Jim Cirigliano Editor Quick Market Price Check Last updated: September 28, 4:30pm EST 3,719.04 S&P 500 (-22.46% YTD) $19,535.00 Bitcoin Price (-59.07% YTD) 6.86% 30-Yr Fixed Mortgage Invest in the Stock Market — Now With Gambling Interactive Brokers has launched [a new "Events" marketplace]( that allows traders to buy and sell yes-or-no contracts based on the closing price of the S&P, Dow, gold, and other futures markets. For example, if I think the Dow is going up tomorrow, I can buy a "yes" contract at a specific closing price. If the Dow closes that day above the price, I make money. If not, I lose money. Hearing the news, Robinhood has also added new markets, allowing users to guess if it will rain today, how long the traffic jam on I-95 will last, and whether the Starbucks barista will flirt back this time (my money is on no).  Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate Closing in on 7% As the Fed continues its assault on interest rates, potential homebuyers are facing a very unfavorable buying environment. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is getting awfully close to 7%. Borrowers with less-than-stellar credit can expect to receive an interest rate upward of 7.5% with [points]( attached. I don’t have a witty one-liner to offer here. It’s a terrible situation for buyers and sellers that's likely to lead to another housing market collapse that will devastate our economy for a long time. To brighten the mood, here’s a mortgage joke: Q: What was the subprime mortgage afraid of? A: Dying a loan.  Airlines Fees You Can See On Monday, the [Biden administration proposed a new rule]( to force airlines to list all fees upfront when consumers make airfare purchases. This means if you went to a site like Travelocity to book a flight, you would see the full price of the fare, including all potential fees you will or might incur during the flight. I imagine the experience will look something like this: - Ticket cost: $550 - Baggage fees (per bag): $40 - Talking to the flight attendant: $20 per instance - Air: $5 per cubic foot Earn Cash With the Upside Cash Back App (sponsored) There’s no better time to start saving money than right now and [Upside]( has a cash back app to help. Customers can earn cash simply by buying the things they already buy like gas and groceries. The average savings is between $90 and $150 each and every year. This is just how easy it is to earn cash with Upside: - Open the app and claim an offer for whatever you're buying (gas, food, or groceries). - Check in at the business and choose the card you're using to pay. - Pay with that card and bam — you get paid! Upside users have earned more than $200 million so far and that total goes up by $1 million each week. To start earning cash, visit [www.GetUpside.com]( Earn at least 30¢/gal on your first fill-up with promo code MC30.  The Dollar Is Getting Awfully Strong The [U.S. dollar is gaining strength]( against almost every global currency these days. You can see from the graph below that aside from our southern friends Mexico and Brazil, the dollar is surging in strength against other countries’ currencies. World economies are trying to tamp down the dollar by increasing rates, decreasing rates, and doing nothing, but no strategy has been effective. One of the positives of a strong dollar is that your money goes further on foreign soil. Now is the time to take that trip to Switzerland. Make it rain and come home with all the chocolate, watches, and cheese one could ever dream of. Expert in NFTs? Mickey Mouse Is Hiring If you consider yourself an expert in the law and in the world of [non-fungible tokens]( (NFTs) then Disney is looking for you. It’s just put up [a job posting]( looking for a lawyer who has experience in emerging technologies, including NFTs, as it gets into the world of digital assets and currency. Starting salary is $25,000 plus four free annual passes to Disneyland (parking not included) and exclusive early access to Duck Coin, Plutorum, and Mickeylink crypto launches. Arizona Man Shocked to Learn He’s Dead A man from Arizona who was in need of an operation learned that his insurance had been canceled by the Social Security Administration (SSA) [because he was declared dead](. After quite the headache, he was able to prove he was, in fact, not dead and had a successful operation. The SSA says this is a very rare occurrence and that "of the millions of death reports, less than one-third of 1 percent are subsequently corrected." Let’s run the math on what is unfortunately an average of 3 million death reports per year in the U.S. 3 million x 1% x 1/3 = 10,000! That’s a lot of incorrectly dead people. But credit to the SSA for coming up with creative ways to keep the social safety net funded. [GettyImages-181886517.jpg] Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Money Crashers, LLC, 1887 Whitney Mesa Dr #3030, Henderson, NV 89014, United States