Sure is Quiet Now
Are the fireworks over?
Sure seems that way on the banking front.
This side of no man’s land, I’m inclined to agree with finance writer Joseph Politano’s cautious, optimistic take. With FTX, SVB, First Republic, Signature, Credit Suisse (and for a hot minute, PacWest) all dwindling behind us like a T-Rex in the side mirror, our shell-shocked banking sector might have reached equilibrium.
Kind of.
Memes of the day
On the Weather
If there’s a new, new normal, it’s definitely overcast. High costs, Tight lending, less credit for homes and businesses. Where there’s damage done, bank decisions reflect it—and with jumpy depositors, liquidity concerns, and fancy, abandoned malls in San Fran being handed back to lenders, you can’t blame them.
But hey, by the time you read this the Fed may have skipped a rate hike.
On top of that:
-Bank stocks are recovering.
-High-yield credit spreads are declining (still high, but that could be a sign of credit conditions normalizing). -Default and charge-off rates are surprisingly low.
And for a little more sunlight, how about Target and Bud Light finally getting corporate America to pump its brakes on this social initiative bulls**t?
Not soon enough, if you ask us.
Up, Over, and What It Means
If there’s one thing a warrior fears, it’s that eerie calm before the ambush. When everything looks a little too peaceful, you’d be forgiven for wondering if it’s some kind of trap.
If you’ll indulge one more movie reference, the World War I epic 1917 captures this perfectly.
When two British soldiers are given an urgent message for the battalion up ahead, the mission looks like a deathwish. Even with evidence that it’s safe (airplane pictures show that the Germans abandoned their lines in a strategic retreat), climbing the ladder, and making their way through the mud and barbed wire of no man’s land chills both of them to the bone.
If they don’t cross, sixteen hundred of their own men will die.
I mention all this because lending and finance knows a similar feeling.
Is it really quiet out there?
For all our mistrust, the hero’s journey calls us up, over, and into danger. Even with that small voice telling us something’s off, the challenge is simple. Take a deep breath, look ahead, and push into the fray—just like 160,000 Allied soldiers did on some cold, choppy beaches, earlier this month and seventy-nine years ago.
Someone had to do it.
Daring with White Label
Calm, storm, or somewhere in between, our mission is clear enough: equip people with the working capital they need to launch their journey. They’re the hero, we’re the guide—and there’s lessons down the road for both of us.
And for brokers, our White Label Back Room Service offers a journey unlike any other.
-Greater income (think a lot more)
-Owning assets instead of commissions
-Zero investment down
-No personal liability
-Fifty-fifty split on risks and profits
If that’s your kind of journey, and if stepping out of the trenches doesn’t scare you, don’t be shy.
Give the Dare team a call.
Until next time,