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The world heavyweight champ of inflation data, U.S. core PCE, nailed expectations dead-on. It also climbed to its highest in five months while U.S. Treasuries remain unchanged. That left many to wonder, why aren't bond traders more worried?

Plummeting exports and business investment did a number on Canada's economy, but that was predictable as November rain in Vancouver.

Today’s GDP release is proof that you have to dig below the surface to infer how mortgage rates might react. Hence why we spend extra time dissecting the numbers, instead of recycling headlines like a parrot that just discovered BNN.

The annualized headline number was hideous, no doubt. But under the hood, the domestic engine is still running. It's more jalopy than race car, but it hasn’t coughed up smoke just yet.

Episode #2 of Stress Test This stars the man working to make Pine a household name in mortgages: CEO and Co-founder Justin Herlick.

As you're about to see, Pine does a lot of things right. Its method is part stopwatch, part spreadsheet: time and measure everything, take every wasted second out of the origination process, chop funding costs, and grow its net promoter score—which Herlick says maximizes word-of-mouth and lowers Pine's customer acquisition costs.

Pine is no tech slouch, but its people matter just as much as its automation. The company has low agent attrition because it does all the client chasing ("top of funnel work") for its reps, delivers ultra-low rates and fair compensation based on customer satisfaction.

We also dig into how Pine is leveraging AI, how it uses AI coding tools, how it scores agents in real-time, its philosophy on AI search, how it manages back-end funders, and where Herlick sees broker market share in 2035.

For mortgage pros allergic to marathon interviews, this one’s a quick shot of competitive insight—practical takeaways from an industry leader in our signature 9.9 minutes. Enjoy...

There's really no good reason why mortgage brokers should still be texting or emailing lenders to confirm guidelines, rates or deal status. It's the modern equivalent of sending a letter to a movie theatre to ask for showtimes.

A bot can dish out the same info in seconds, trimming staffing costs and elevating broker and client satisfaction.

That brings us to the puzzle of the day: why do almost no lenders offer such an invaluable tool to their broker partners? The tech to make this possible has been around for years, even before ChatGPT's November 30, 2022 public launch.

While most large lenders are snoozing on this technology, upstart Wiseday is making it happen.

Worrying about mortgage burdens late in life is becoming a national pastime. With Canada's oppressive cost of living and tax burdens, plus poor savings habits, homeowners increasingly fear their mortgage will outlast them.

While such realities may keep people in debt longer and boost industry mortgage volumes, it’s hardly the ideal societal outcome.

Earlier this year, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) conducted a survey that revealed intriguing trends about late-in-life mortgages. Here's what they found, along with specific ways that mortgage advisors can turn these trends into a business model.