Happy Friday to all of the readers out in Reverse Mortgage land! It’s a beautiful early-spring day here in Reverse Mortgage Daily’s hometown of Chicago, and we hope this post finds you easing into a pleasant weekend — unless, of course, you’re just refreshing your browser incessantly for the latest bits of news from the increasingly Shakespearean Trump-Ryan healthcare drama.

Either way, take a break with some of the top stories from a busy week in the mortgage and financial world, as judged by traffic on RMD’s website:

Rate Hike to Have Mixed Effect on Reverse Mortgages — The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the federal funds rate — with more planned hikes on the way before 2017 comes to a close — could have a complex series of effects on the reverse mortgage marketplace, from lower fixed-rate draws to a potentially dampening effect on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-backed securities market.

Hedge Fund Manager Bets $123 Million on Walter, Loses — Our traffic counter obviously can’t tell if it was out of sympathy or a touch of schadenfreude, but RMD readers flocked to this story about a hedge fund manager who bet the farm on Walter Investment Management Corporation, only to take the beating of a lifetime this week as WAC’s stock plummeted in the wake of a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad earnings call on March 14.

New Firm Acquires HERMIT Reverse Mortgage Software — Industry veteran Kevin Gherardi’s new firm, Reverse Technology Group, acquired the rights to the industry’s HERMIT reverse mortgaging service platform, and teased the release of new software that would allow lenders to service their own loans without the assistance of third parties.

Five Essential Reverse Mortgage Comparison Resources — RMD compiled a must-read list of five articles that compare HECMs to other potential retirement-funding options, including home equity lines of credit, annuities, and the mysterious and controversial shared appreciation mortgage, or SAM.

Reactions to Trump’s Budget in Reverse Mortgages and Beyond — President Trump’s budget blueprint both raised hackles and drew praise from commentators in a variety of industries, and RMD collected them in one analytical piece.

Reverse mortgages around the web

NRMLA Home Equity Resources — Just in time for Financial Literacy Month in April, the team at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association put together two educational resources for consumers about home equity: a quick-hit infographic, and a longer three-part article. Both introduce readers to the concept of home equity, and then provide detailed explanations of how seniors can tap into theirs — including with a HECM or a HELOC.

Written by Alex Spanko