The Big Picture

On this week’s The Big Picture , Meredith Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group and one of the most influential voices in finance, joins the show to talk markets, housing, and what’s next for the banking sector. Dubbed the “Oracle of Wall Street” for her prescient 2007 call on Citigroup, Meredith brings a rare combination of deep macro insight and candid perspective on how policy, credit...

On this week’s The Big Picture , Dustin Owen, veteran mortgage executive and host of The Loan Officer Podcast,  joins the show to share what he’s seeing from the front lines of origination and where the industry goes next. As the co-founder of a $1 billion retail production operation and one of the most recognized voices in mortgage education, Dustin blends practical experience with a clear-eyed v...

On this week’s The Big Picture , Ashlee Randall, SVP of Product Development and Strategy at Class Valuation, joins the show to talk appraisal modernization and the future of valuation technology. With more than 15 years of experience driving innovation in mortgage operations, Ashlee has become a leading voice on how lenders, borrowers, and appraisers can all benefit from smarter, more streamlined...

On this week’s The Big Picture, Jennifer McGuinness, CEO of PIVOT Financial, joins the show to talk about capital markets, liquidity, and what it takes to build smarter, more resilient mortgage platforms. With more than two decades of experience across Wall Street and the mortgage industry, Jennifer has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative voices in the market. We dig into her career...

On this week’s The Big Picture , Mark McArdle, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Relations, Public Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at Newrez, joins the show to share his perspective on housing policy, regulation, and what it all means for the mortgage market. With more than two decades of experience in government and financial services, including senior roles at the CFPB and U.S. Treasury, Mar...

On this week’s The Big Picture, Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer and Partner at PRMG, joins the show to talk lending, leadership, and how mortgage companies can adapt to today’s shifting market. From balancing technology and customer experience to keeping teams motivated through volatility, Kevin brings an inside look at what it takes to steer one of the industry’s fastest-growing lenders. We...

On this week’s The Big Picture, Jim Parrott, former senior housing adviser in the Obama White House and current nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute and owner of Parrott Ryan Advisors, joins the show to cut through the noise on housing policy and the mortgage market. With deep experience shaping housing strategy at the highest levels of government, Jim brings a candid perspective on where pol...

On this week’s Big Picture, Dave Savage, founder of Mortgage Coach and Chief Growth Officer at TrustEngine, joins Rob and Rich to talk about the future of advice in lending, financial literacy, and how technology is reshaping the role of originators. With nearly three decades in the business, Dave has interviewed more than 1,000 top producers and turned Mortgage Coach into the industry’s go-to pla...

On this week’s The Big Picture , Chase Gilbert, CEO and co-founder of Built Technologies, joins the show to talk with Rob and Rich about construction finance, housing and why Nashville’s skyline of cranes says a lot about where the market is headed. From billion-dollar stadium projects to the everyday challenges lenders and builders face, Chase breaks down how technology is reshaping one of the mo...

Katie Sweeney, EVP of Broker Strategy & Advocacy at Rocket Mortgage, joins Rob and Rich on this week’s episode of The Big Picture as mortgage rates hit their lowest point in nearly a year, the trigger leads bill clears Congress, and bipartisan housing legislation gains momentum. She breaks down what these developments really mean, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how the trigger leads bill...

The Fed held steady again this week, sparking debate over whether it's strategic patience or just another missed layup. Rich and Rob break it all down with their usual mix of insight and exasperation—then tag in recurring guest (and unofficial capital markets therapist) Chris Bennett of Vice Capital Markets to make sense of the economic data flood. From GDP and jobs to PCE and Powell’s carefu...

This week, Rob and Rich are joined by none other than Nikki Bialka—an officially unofficial recurring guest and fan favorite from her last blockbuster appearance. Nikki leads affordable and CRA lending efforts at Fifth Third Bank, where she navigates the ever-shifting terrain of homeownership access with smarts, clarity, and just enough sass to make policy talk feel like a happy hour debate. After...

On this week’s episode of The Big Picture, Rich and Rob welcomed Pete Mills, SVP of Residential Policy and Strategic Industry Engagement at the MBA, for a timely discussion on housing policy, political gridlock, and what lenders really need to know heading into an election year. Pete gave a clear-eyed breakdown of the legislative headwinds in D.C.—from the slim chances of housing-focused bills pas...

On this week’s episode of The Big Picture , Rich and Rob were joined by Sue Woodard and Bill Bodnar for a lively breakdown of what’s working—and what’s still wildly broken—across the mortgage experience and capital markets. From Fed policy whiplash to the bond market’s split personality, Bill brought the macro insights while Sue translated them into what lenders actually need to hear about borrowe...

On this week’s The Big Picture , legendary analyst Meredith Whitney returns to the spotlight with a candid breakdown of why she believes 2025 could mark the worst year in decades for the U.S. housing market. She unpacks the structural shifts reshaping homeownership—from generational imbalances to the hidden cracks in credit markets—and explains why a slowdown in housing could become a broader econ...

If you thought housing news might finally chill this week… nope. Bayview just picked up Guild like it was part of a two-for-one special at Costco, and the Fed once again ghosted rate cuts - because messing with the bond market is apparently their favorite pastime. Rich and Rob broke it all down with their usual cocktail of sharp analysis and mild disbelief. Then James Dwiggins of NextHome, Inc. jo...

On today’s episode of The Big Picture , Rich and Rob welcomed Dustin Owen, CMB, AMP—co-founder of The Loan Officer Podcast and EVP at Lower—for a fast-paced, no-BS conversation on influence, branding, and where the mortgage business goes from here. Dustin pulled back the curtain on how TLOP was born, what it’s done for his platform, and why he thinks too many LOs are still trying to sell in 2008....

On today’s Big Picture with Rich and Rob , we kicked things off with the Trump–Musk feud, soft jobless claim numbers, and growing chatter that the Trump 2.0 term could take Fannie and Freddie public—without ending conservatorship. It’s a bold, strange path that could reshape the GSE landscape without fully releasing the reins. Then we welcomed Rob Chrane from Down Payment Resource for a fast-paced...

On today’s episode of The Big Picture with Rich and Rob, the show opened with a brisk round of industry headlines, highlighting a continued wave of M&A activity in the mortgage sector and the potential implications of investor Bill Pulte’s outspoken critique of FICO. The hosts also discussed Donald Trump’s recent comments expressing a desire to take the GSEs public, setting the stage for a con...

On today’s episode of The Big Picture with Rich and Rob , featuring the legendary Steve Richman, we kicked things off by diving into Donald Trump’s recent comments about releasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. That lit the fuse for a broader conversation about the GSEs’ outsized profits and the increasingly vocal commentary from housing advocate (and Twitter flamethrower) Bill P...

Gavin Newsom just signed new legislation to make home construction cheaper and faster in California — which now makes it only the slowest and most expensive place to build… slightly more efficiently. Bill Pulte is back on the media circuit giving interviews like it’s 2019, and Lower just bought Movoto because, apparently, the portal wars have officially resumed. Meanwhile, the rest of us are still...

On today’s episode of The Big Picture with Rich & Rob , we kicked things off with a sharp look at the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady — a move that brought a sigh of relief to some and a collective eye-roll from others hoping for real movement. We also broke down UWM’s Q1 earnings report, which included a $247M loss and plenty of questions about where the broker channel narrative goes from...

Today’s edition of The Big Picture was packed, as Rob Chrisman and I tackled another wild week in housing and finance. We covered the congressional investigation into Trump’s attempt to dismantle the CFPB, UWM’s move to bring servicing in-house amid 401k mismanagement allegations, and Bill Pulte’s bold ideas to boost GSE productivity. We also dug into this morning’s weak jobless claims report and...

On this week’s edition of The Big Picture , hosts Rich Swerbinsky and Rob Chrisman opened with a look at the latest market-moving developments. Topics included President Trump’s recent public criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, rising volatility tied to tariff-related policy rumors, and a major shakeup in Washington as the Trump administration moved to dismantle the Consumer Finan...

Today on The Big Picture with Rich & Rob: We kicked things off with a light topic: Mat Ishbia’s no-good, very bad month. Then things got serious — Trump vs. Jerome Powell (Spoiler: nobody blinked), and a look at who’s merging with who in mortgage these days... because it’s cheaper than therapy. Special guest Kelley Hailstone , CEO of Jet HomeLoans, joined us to break down the builder-lender ba...