Correspondent Blog

D.C. Headlines Will Dominate This week offers little in the way of first-tier economic data so the market will trade around headlines from Washington D.C. While the fate of the stimulus bill took a hit last week,  President Trump stepped in and signed several executive orders replacing some of the expiring stimulus. However, the biggest…

The week ends with a look at July retail sales and after absorbing new Treasury supply and hotter-than-expected CPI and PPI numbers Treasury yields have taken some body blows but still seem to have solid legs. The retail sales numbers are generally better than expected but off the extreme bounce in activity that characterized June….

The hotter-than-expected PPI numbers yesterday were followed by even hotter CPI numbers this morning and that has spooked the Treasury market into a decent back-up in yields, and with the CPI numbers this morning the move could have a little legs to it. Mind you, the back-up in yields is less about a fear of…

It is not a question of “if” it is only a question of “when” you will start deploying chat and chat automation at your bank. It should be on your radar screen for several reasons, the first of which is that it will soon be the fastest growing and the most preferred communication channel among…

We sent out a survey to several thousand community bankers across the country to understand bankers’ concerns, challenges, and opportunities in the current business environment.  We feel that organizing an exchange of ideas and sharing of strategies is beneficial to many bankers. We also offered resources (videos, white papers, policies, marketing material, online proposal generators,…

Stimulus Via Executive Order? The fate of the stimulus bill remains very uncertain as both sides insist the other is being intransigent so it looks like any bill passing into law will take longer than investors had assumed only a week ago. So, President Trump stepped in over the weekend signing several executive orders replacing…

Beginning in May 2012 we started tracking  portfolio trends of our bond accounting customers here at the Correspondent Division of CenterState Bank.  At present, we account for over 128 client portfolios with a combined book value of $11.4 billion, or $89 million on average per portfolio.  Twelve months earlier the average portfolio size was $65…

The July Employment Report is out  and instead of an expected increase of  1.5 million jobs the report found more at 1.8 million. Despite the positive beat, the scope of the damage still to be repaired is daunting.   9.3 million jobs have been created  in the last three months versus 22.2 million jobs lost in…

The two biggest events driving the market this week are the Friday jobs report for July and the ongoing saga of the stimulus bill.  The jobs report will be the first in a few months to have the potential to alter perceptions and trading direction. If the report beats expectations (1.5 million new jobs), the…

What is with all the waving we do at the end of Zoom calls? Should we start waving as we back out of the room for in-person meetings in the future? By the same token, many banks are baffled by what to do with the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP), as this is not something…

Covid-19 has changed many aspects of banking from branch operations to credit underwriting and remote supervision of employees. Many community bank managers are physically distanced from their teams because of the pandemic. This distancing creates new challenges on how to supervise, motivate, communicate with, coach, train, and review bankers. We face this same challenge and…

Stimulus Bill and July Jobs Report It’s jobs week  so that will once again be the focus of the market and it’s been a while since the employment report held the potential to truly shift market expectations. But with the rise in Covid-19 cases and the stalling reopening efforts, the July jobs numbers will return…