The talking heads on Fox News yesterday were cautioning viewers not to read too much into the swings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average based on the statements of whichever Congressional caucus was blaming the other for the failure to pass the bailout bill.

While they never said the words, the basic concept was not to sweat the individual data points but to watch the overall trend. And one day does not a trend make.

The Dow soared 485 points today meaning that for the past two days, the net drop was 292 points. Oddly enough (note the sarcasm) the wire stories I’m seeing don’t refer to the amount of money that on paper was regained, though yesterday’s stories were quick to quantify the paper losses from the 777-point drop.

Such is the way of the mass media.

This isn’t to say we’re out of the woods, of course. But it does give some credence to one of the comments left by a loyal reader yesterday. Without going into details, I can tell you without a doubt that Scott knows of what he speaks when he says …

It is a little painful…but let the markets flush themselves out. That is the tough love of capitalism.

During last week’s presidential debates, Obama accused McCain of taking a hatchet to what needed a scalpel. This is a different topic but it appears the logic remains … at the end of the day, going for the dramatic simply to alleviate fear is going to be useless if the dramatic move has little actual benefit.

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We’re closed for Rosh Hashanah today, so the stats will be back tomorrow.

For those celebrating as well, l’shanah tovah.

We’ll see you tomorrow.

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The bailout bill died this morning in the House of Representatives. Rep. Barney Frank is blaming the Republicans for not supporting the measure though a lack of support could be found on both sides of the aisle.

Here’s the question to which I’d like an answer - and the answers I see seem to vary widely depending on who happens to be speaking.

Is this measure absolutely necessary? As the banking industry contracts to where there are a handful of large-scale national banks as well as some regional banks - banks that have not been impacted by the mortgage market because they didn’t get into the risky propositions their larger brethren such as WaMu and Wachovia and others did … is this a bad scenario? Isn’t this a sign of the free market correcting itself to some degree?

It’s nice that the federal government feels the need to jump in after years without any sense of regulation. It was nice hearing the presidential candidates talking about how long ago they first sensed the problem … TWO YEARS after the problem actually started.

The argument is the free market (a bit of a misnomer since there’s some regulation in place so free isn’t really totally free) can’t correct this mistake.

Maybe that’s the case. But do you trust the federal government, the same government that stood by as all this happened, to now be the savior with our tax dollars?

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Looking for details on the Bailout Bill Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 put together by Congress? Jay Thompson has links to both the draft of the bill itself and the official summary.

I’m still deciding where I fall on the whole thing, to be honest. It’s a question in my mind of whether this is absolutely necessary to hold the economic system together or if it’s meant to shore up some dumb investments and nothing more.

That answer depends largely on who you happen to listen to. And truthfully, I’m far less interested in the talking heads’ opinions than yours.

Fire away.

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As you may have noticed dear readers, experiences with clients usually seep their way into this blog. Some real estate agents consider this taboo; for me, if there’s something I can address in a general way that may answer a future buyer’s question, all the better.

So on Thursday I drove to a location I’m not allowed to mention for reasons soon to become obvious and pick up someone for a purpose I can’t describe. After handing me a cup of coffee, the alleged person says “today is off the record.”

Well, hell.

Actually, this probably was just as well as the alleged person and I had a couple of things in common which made most of the conversations thoroughly enjoyable personally and utterly useless for a real estate blog.

After further discussions over a second beverage (I didn’t receive clearance, but I’m going to tell you it was the Four Peaks Hefeweizen at Oregano’s - a local microbew at a local pizza place - excellent choices, both), here’s what I am allowed to share:

1. Square footage is less important than layout when the differences are a few dozen square feet. A poor layout can make the much larger property seem far smaller.
2. Location matters when you’re looking for something to turn into a vacation rental.
3. Being next to a golf course isn’t necessarily a critical aspect of that location. Easy access to the Valley’s freeway system is because of the draws of spring training, golf, and hockey.
4. Get an orange slice if possible with the Four Peaks hefe instead of a lemon as the lemon can overwhelm the flavor.

If not for a day filled with youth soccer and the Phoenix Coyotes’ first preseason game, I might be finding one of those hefes myself.

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