ACUMA ONpoint
ACUMA ONpoint
When Media Shouts Doom, Watch Applications And Act
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Headlines keep screaming doom, but the data tells a different story. We sit down with Bill Bodner, Founder and CRO at Tabrasa, to unpack why last year was quietly strong for mortgages, how the spread between mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury snapped back toward historical norms, and what that means for pricing, locks, and strategy right now. The big idea: measure behavior, not vibes. Applications and pending home sales say borrowers are in motion, even as sentiment surveys stay gloomy.
We dig into housing affordability and the growing menu of policy levers being floated, from tax code nudges that unlock down payments to targeted support for mortgage-backed securities. While not every proposal is a winner, the direction is clear and supportive. Add in the potential boost from a historically significant tax refund and steady business investment, and you’ve got real tailwinds that credit unions can turn into sustainable growth. We also get practical about risk: global bond markets can still spark volatility, but the U.S. remains comparatively strong. With the mortgage-to-Treasury spread back near its long-term range, the 10-year is once again a reliable north star for rate direction.
The playbook is straightforward and urgent. Stop waiting for the media to turn positive. Double down on member outreach now, educate borrowers on how spreads and the 10-year drive rates, and use timely data to guide decisions. Prioritize purchase-readiness and database marketing while capturing a major HELOC opportunity fueled by record home equity. Expect fits and starts in a generally declining rate environment, and be ready to move when the metrics move. If you’re looking for a grounded, actionable read on where mortgages are headed and how credit unions can win, this conversation delivers.
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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Acima, its board of directors, its management staff, or its members. The podcast discussion presented is conversational in nature and for general information only.
SPEAKER_03:This is Acima's Onplay Podcast. On today's episode, we're sitting down with a friend of Acima gaining his insights on the market and our opportunities. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hello and welcome to Acima's One Point Podcast. I'm your host, Peter Benjamin. Today's episode is the first of our new format where we will also discuss real-world issues impacting creditians right now. But don't worry, we will continue to have conversations with people making a positive impact in our industry as well. We will definitely continue on with that little fun um game at the end of every single episode. So let's jump into it. Today I am joined by Bill Bodner, founder and CRO with Tobrasa. Bill, my friend, how are you doing? Thank you for having me, Peter. Happy New Year. You too, buddy. Hey, so Bill, as I mentioned, we're going to be discussing, you know, kind of you know the secondary market, you know, and really, you know, the broader economic environment, more specifically, how it it can impact credit unions. Excited for this conversation. Um, but as always, before we get too much further, gotta step off to the side, gotta bring Justin the Hawk in to kind of get some of the latest and greatest of happening over in ACM. So, Justin, Hawk, how are you doing? And what is the latest and greatest happening over in Acma? I'm good, Peter.
SPEAKER_02:How are you? Living the dream. All right, I love it. Uh, well, we are, I mean, I've said it already, but we're underway. Uh, registration for the viewpoint regional summits has already opened. That opened last month. So um, if you haven't registered, uh, there's still plenty of time. This year we're heading to three different locations. So we're gonna be in Dallas, Texas, March 24th and 25th. Uh, St. Louis, Missouri, April 14th and 15th, and Baltimore, Maryland, April 28th and 29th. Like last year, we're gonna have some fun experiences. Um, we'll have a night at the honky tonk in Dallas. We'll have the brew the St. Louis Brew experience in St. Louis and the Guinness Gathering in Baltimore. Uh so no there's no team whatsoever. Not at all. I mean, between like honky tonks and breweries, and you know, they might serve beer at all three. It's cool. They they'll also have boxed wine, maybe, for for those on our team that love box wine. Nope. Nope, that's not part of that's not part of the uh the budget. No, all right. Well, we've tried. Yeah, um, but it'll be a good time either way, and I'm looking forward to it. Uh I'm curious how many people are gonna show up in their boots, though.
SPEAKER_03:No, that's hey and and you forgot that uh our special guest today is a speaker at uh summits, right? No, I didn't forget that. He's speaking a couple times.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I didn't realize a bush or maybe at the C CQ. It's my buddy uh Mark Dietz. Yeah, Mark Folkman.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's right, that's right. We'll be he'll be in Baltimore and was in St.
SPEAKER_02:Louis with us. It's it's gonna be awesome. Yeah, so that would be exciting. So uh if you enjoy the conversation, and even if you don't enjoy the conversation, still come see us because we're just awesome people, you know. That's right. Um and it's free, free, free, and it's free. That's the like we cannot stress that enough. Credit union QSO members, it is free for you to attend. So come have fun, take in the educational content. Uh, you will not be uh sad that you made that as a choice. Uh, you will be sad if you miss it. Um okay. Outside of our summit, though, our workshop registration is opening next week. All right, so this year we're gonna be hosting one workshop. It's gonna be in San Diego, California. So we have two full days of content. Uh come out join and join us there. Um, I'm not sure if it's the beginning of summer or the end of spring, but either way, I'm sure San Diego might have warmer weather than most of some parts of the other country.
SPEAKER_03:So it's like the second week, it's like the second week in May, right? Something like that. Yeah, May 12th and 13th. We'll call that spring. I feel like summer doesn't start to Memorial Day. Do you think we could like point Sprummer?
SPEAKER_02:No. Keep going. Come on. We were so close. All right. Uh, and then um outside of that, so we have our virtual meetings, so we have our YPN quarterly meeting, Q1 meeting happening February 11th at 1 p.m. Eastern, and our volume-based network meetings. Uh, they're gonna be happening February 18th at 1 p.m. Uh, and last but not least, we have our webinar series and our on-point podcast happening all year long. All right, good deep, appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03:All right, Billy. Sir, all right, so yeah, I I feel like I I love the fact that we are starting off you know, this the new season with the on-point podcast with you, season number four, and you know, taking it in this direction where we really focus on the more technical things. And I I I and the second part of of the reason why I love this is that we're gonna be focusing on a conversation that I feel that, or a topic that I feel like a lot of credions you know do well, but more so importantly, there's this is a topic that a lot of credians don't do well, like they just they're just clueless and they kind of sort of go blind into this, and that's really you know, the economy, secondary market. Yeah. And I don't know if it's out of fear or fear of the unknown or it's just too technical for them, they don't have the expertise. I don't know, but I love the fact that we're starting this conversation with you today. Now, now we're kind of gonna jump around to my questions, so please forgive me. But you know, first things first, you know, you know, I think the most important question is how has the current economic environment or conditions how does that really influence a credit union's mortgage strategy and really risk tolerance going into 26? So I think let's start with that. And and by the way, feel free to kind of paint like a Picasso for me of the current economic conditions before you answer that question.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. So it's great to be here with you both. So I think first let's take a step back. Last year, and there's a lot that is misunderstood, Peter, because there's a lot of noise out there. You know, we've been together now four years, we've been doing a bunch of events together, and you know, we try to make this stuff relatable. And part of the problem, the challenge that we had last year is that there was a lot of doom and gloom. I mean, I you know, I remember doing all these talks, everybody was telling us we're supposed to have stagflation or recession, tariffs were supposed to create runaway inflation. None of it manifested. In fact, mortgages, like just mortgage pricing in and of itself, had like its best year since like the Great Recession when we came out and it fixed market-to-market. That was a good year, 2009. This may have been the next good year. So when you look at the fact that bond prices improved all year long, and the spread between mortgages, and we'll talk about this more through our call, and the spread between mortgages and a 10-year note narrowed back to here we are now at historic levels, right back to historic levels. It was an amazing year for the mortgage business, so just for the mortgages. And then when you couple that with the stuff that's going into this year, you know, I think for credit unions and and and anybody out there talking to a client, there's this challenge of what the media puts out there. And remember, the media, I think one of the things we always start our talks with is that the media is not designed to say, hey Peter, thanks for tuning in. Things are great. See you next week. It always has to have this doom and gloom. And when they talk about our world, the media doesn't touch on it. So I'm I'm I'm very much interested in going a little bit deeper into some of this because you can't get this from the news. Like if you listen to the news to get your what's happening, my God, you turn off in three minutes, you feel like the world is ending, and it just hasn't. I mean, last year was a good year, and I see a lot of good stuff happening. And hopefully we talk about affordability and all these things because I think there's some great tailwinds going into this year. But one of the things, when you talk about risk, you know, you know, the economic factors, there's still uncertainty. And with uncertainty, you know, we want growth, right? Credit unions want to build, you know, take on some growth, but there's still inflation's a little bit sticky. We're north of the Fed's goal. The economy, we're not sure where it is, even the labor market, right? The jury's still out. There's no hiring, there's no firing, and there's no quitting. So, what's the next step for the labor market? Because what I would encourage all the credit unions to remind themselves, jobs buy homes, what we can have is the labor market fall apart. I don't think that's happening either. So I think that there's probably a little bit after a really good year, there's probably an excitement. I I see a lot of excitement in the industry going out and speaking at these credit union events, but there's a little bit, it's a cautious optimism because it's just the economy, it's not sure where we're headed next.
SPEAKER_03:All right. So, yeah, and I appreciate you you you framing it up as you know, a cautious, optimistic. You know, I was having a conversation with, you know, a mutual friend, Skip Wilcox, the other day. Yeah, and you know, he asked the kind of sort of that same question. You what do you foresee like in 26? And my response was, listen, I I think there's basically gonna be the same thing you said, cautious optimistic, but I I do think come March we'll we'll start seeing another good year, right? People are gonna start coming out a little bit more than what they have in the past. Agree. Um, and I think we're gonna have a solid year. And I'm hoping that the rumors that I'm hearing that you know credit unions had a better year than what we think they did from a mortgage perspective. Yeah. I'm hoping that that rumor is true and that it's reflected in credit unions really investing in their mortgage operations, investing in you know, the growth, etc. Now, are there any positive influences that that are are happening right now in the current economic environment? Are there just are there just some good stories in your opinion, or good topics in your opinion? You're just thinking, hey, you know, you know, the the headwinds are behind us, we're now on the tailwinds, we're being pushed along. What are some of those things that for that you're seeing that are positive?
SPEAKER_01:So um, great question. And and I think credit unions, by the way, are are really are doing great. And I'm hearing a lot talk about investing in this year. But to your question, I think uh the you know housing affordability has now become a big it's the elephant in the room. Yeah. And um it's the probably the largest economic, societal, and now political issue. So the good thing is ideas are getting discussed. Are they all great? No. I would not sign up for a 50-year mortgage. But what I'm excited for everybody listening to this call in the credit union space is that directionally a lot is getting thrown at it, including, you know, the the the you know, the even the institutional buying of homes. That's gonna help in hot pockets, right? Is that gonna help everywhere? No. Is it a magic bullet? No. The buying of mortgage-backed securities that has already narrowed the spread significantly. Thank God with the 10-year note about above 420 again. That's a good thing. And now we're hearing, Peter, using the tax code, whether it be using a 401k without penalty to do with down payment. I mean, I there's things that we can do, maybe even the capital gains, you can use the tax code to get inspire movement. So I'm excited that it's getting talked about and that there's ideas getting thrown out. Are they all great? No. Are they all the magic bullets? No. But directionally, they're all talents for us. And when you couple that with lower rates, a growing economy, you know, this first half of the year, Peter, no one talks about this. We're going to have the largest tax refund in the history of our country. It's going to be like an extra$500 billion. It's going to be it's going to feel amazing because it's retroactive to last year, plus the business investment. It's just it's really a good story. So there's great economic tailwinds, plus this idea of tackling housing. It's reason to be very optimistic. I the way I frame it, last year was better than 24, and 26 is going to be better than 25.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:No, I I think that's great. And which I think is perfect, and it kind of leads into my next question, right? You know, and I always kind of, you know, whenever we're at this point in time where we've we've had these, you and I both know, you know, the the mortgage industry, the economy, everything is is is has a cycle, right? And let's say we're finally at that point where we are about to go over the edge and start heading in a better path, right? And so we're we're at the peak and we're getting ready to go downhill almost like a roller coaster, that that first hill on the roller coaster. So when you think about it, you know, and this could be a positive or negative, uh, you can frame it up however you so choose, Bill. But when you think of, you know, one or or or two things that credit unions should be paying closer attention to that could decide is this gonna be continued uphill battle or is it gonna be, are we gonna start speeding up because we're going downhill? I know it's a tough question, but like, are there one or two things that you'd say are you have to pay attention to this because depending on the direction, it's gonna influence the markets?
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's a great, it's a great question. And what the one thing we've always talked about uh is the debt. And so uh, and and the debt is not just here, it's global. Uh and the bond market is global. You know, when this was recorded, we're looking at Japan staring at some of the highest rates in their history. Uh there on the long, long end, talking 30-year papers, the highest ever. And even their 10-year paper is at levels we haven't seen since 1998. So it's and and why? Because they're having, and I remember we did an accuracy event years ago when Liz Trust had her moment, right? She came out, the UK said, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna buy all, we're gonna give tax refunds, this and that. Bond market said, no. Well, Japan is having that moment right now, and I and I just worry that everybody has this version of a big, beautiful bill, but no means to pay for it. And the bond market is having their way by pushing rates higher. And it makes it hard for us to separate ourselves from that. The good news is that we always remain the cleanest shirt and a dirty laundry when compared to other countries. We always just seem to get it done. I mean, coming out of the great recession, coming out of the pandemic, we always seem to outshine. I'd like to think we're going to do it again, but it's not going to be without volatility. And if you don't, if if the folks listening and their team and and secondary and their marketing and their mortgage team don't understand what's moving the market, that it could be what's happening in Japan and Germany, it could be at their detriment. And I think when you're having conversations, especially in a declining interest rate environment, you have to be able to have to be able to show, you know, what's going on. Like what are the fits and starts? And that's what's going to happen. We're going to have fits and starts. Rates are, we are in a declining interest rate environment, but it's not going to be a straight line as evidence as to what we're going through here at the beginning of the year.
SPEAKER_03:Uh you know, I know this wasn't, you know, kind of on our list of questions, but you know, remember the good old days where you could look at the 10-year and and really determine what how our market was doing orders, you know, more specifically mortgages. Absolutely. Are are we getting back to that point where you could you could you could use the 10-year as a solid barometer for where mortgage interest rates are going?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And the reason why you the the we reason why I'm saying that now is because the spread that is the natural spread between the mortgages and the 10-year note is back to historical standards, right? Like during the pandemic, post-pandemic, when things got wild and everybody's worried about people being unemployed and all that, we went from three we went to 300 basis points. So when the 10-year note was five, mortgages were eight. That is now narrowed right back to the historical level of about 170 basis points. So the only way mortgage rates get better is if the spread narrows beyond historical standards, right? We go to maybe 150 basis points. But if the 10-year note keeps tension higher, it's taking mortgages with it. So I would absolutely be looking at the 10-year note where over the last month you didn't have to look at the last, you know, the 10-year note as much because mortgages were outperforming, but now that's over. Right. Remember, you know, they're talking about buying$200 billion worth of mortgages to help with mortgage rates, but that spread is already narrowed to historical standards. So I would be watching a 10-year note, and I would be watching to see the the announcement and the execution of mortgage bonds and how mortgages perform relative to the tenure note. But I think it's, you know, it used to be like you said, really easy to look at the 10-year note. I think we're back to that in some degree just because it's spread now.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, that's that's that is good news. Now, one thing I love about your presentations and kind of just always being in the audience or or having you at our events and your presentations is the main theme of your presentation is reading the market, right? This is how you read the market, this is what you look for. So, this question is is really going uh you know along those lines. You know, based off what you're seeing, you know, when you travel around the country or speak to different credit unions, is there something that credit unions are looking at that they may be misreading or maybe even a missed opportunity for them? Is there like just something that is causing them to have pause? Like they're just misreading and they're not looking at the market the way they should be. Obviously, specifically as it relates to mortgage. That's all we really care about, right? I don't yeah, as much as I want to talk auto, I don't care.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I think um I think last year we did really well despite the media telling us it was gonna be everything was really bad. Like you almost had to resist the urge. And so one of the things that I would encourage people to do is, and one of the things that I that we look at, and I think it would be great for anybody listening to watch, is I don't I have toned down my views of consumer sentiment and consumer confidence. You can't ignore them, but you can't hang your hat on because if you listen to these reports, Peter, they're so darn negative. I feel like you would think, oh my God, am I in a parallel universe? Because I'm going around, everybody's buying stuff. And what I watch instead, uh, and when they talk about is now a good time to buy, you go you have to watch uh uh pending home sales and the NBA mortgage applications, right? There's three things. Obviously, we need low rates, and we've gotten that to a degree, but you look at the app application and the pending home sales. Uh the last pending home sales was a three-year high. Uh mortgage apps were up 29% week over week. Those are the things that tells you people are in action. Don't listen to media, don't listen to the noise. You look at those two metrics, and you now have to market to your database and don't wait for the media to tell you, oh crap, we were wrong. Things are actually really good. And you need to go out, rates are low, because then they're out there and they're shopping everywhere but the credit unit. You need to get out in front of that. And that's probably an opportunity where you can bifurcate from what the media and the fundings on T V and the so called economist experts are telling you what's happening. You have to what people are doing.
SPEAKER_03:No, I I love that answer. I mean it I I think it's spot on, right? If we were to base our decisions as a financial institution on whether or not we grow mortgage or invest in mortgage or even have a mortgage vision off consumer confidence or sentiment, we're we're very much missing the boat. 100%. Um I I love that. All right, so last question before we kind of make that transition to the second segment. You know, when you think about 2026, what truly matters now for mortgage lending versus what's just simple noise?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I think uh it goes it kind of goes back to a little bit about what we just shared. Uh people are feeling better. People are seeing the rates come down, people have moved past the tariff. I mean, we're getting some right now as we talk. There was supposed to be this doom and gloom, but uh that seemed to have gone by. And people are now hearing uh every other day about this idea that we're gonna do things to help with uh uh housing. And we have to remember that housing, Peter, makes up 18% of our economy. We can't even have we're having a good economy despite no housing. So I would resist the urge to get caught up in in the news where they say, well, if this happens, then that could happen, but but you know, with the butt. Just forget all that. Listen to watch people in action. And I encourage you to even look around. Like if you if you look around, I I always joke, you want to see what's going on, look in your neighborhood, look what's happening, and then watch those indicators on apps and stuff. That tells you things are moving. Because if you wait for someone to tell you good news on me on the media or or people on TV, pundits from either side, you're going to be waiting a while, right? You got to parse through that noise and see what's actually happening. And I'm very, very excited because it just shows how resilient our economy is. And when you couple all that with what I know is going to happen in the next couple of months, with this monster tax refund of an additional half a trillion dollars hitting the economy, it's really tough not to be very excited for the folks listening to this call. Um we're gonna have again, it's not gonna be a straight line, but directionally, everything is coming our way. I mean, the whole thing is about all I hear from a fiscal policy, Peter, is we are attacking housing affordability. Last night checked, everybody on this call is trying to figure out how to do a mortgage or sell a HELOC. By the way, that's the other thing. HELOC business for the credit unions are gonna have another ban a year. They're gonna kill it on the HELOC side. Why not? I mean, the equity I think is$36 trillion. It's a lot of equity, you know, 70% of the I mean the the numbers are huge on uh on how much equity is there. So and and credit unions are obviously poison the unique spot on the HELOC side. They own HELOC bits.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely, absolutely. So, you know, again, I'd really enjoyed you know our conversation. I love what you just said. In many ways, I'm gonna translate it to a more simplified term. You know, don't worry about what the what the media says about where the economy is going. It's almost to that point where we we we know we have the tools in place to kind of get a good sense of where we're going. The 10-year. Yeah, but I would also add in applications. So look at your applications. Don't worry about what the media saying, you know, we're about to head into a recession. Listen, if people are still applying, that's that's that's all that's that's that's golden. That's all you need.
SPEAKER_01:They have a better handle of the media than the media. They should be telling the media what's going on because they have the information right at their fingertips. People are in motion. And by the way, Peter, one last thing I gotta share. You know, I like Lawrence Young at at uh NAR, you know, sharp guy, very positive, rooted in reality. And life goes on. I mean, at some point, it's 26 a year that life finally goes on, right? You got divorce, you got death, you got people want to move on. The lock-in effect, if you do things with the tax code to inspire people to move, I think we can have a real surprise to the upside. Certainly not to the downside.
SPEAKER_03:Well, fingers crossed on a good year. Um, I know all of our members have have been patiently waiting for that. So, Bill, thank you very much for this. But we it's now time to transition to the second segment of our podcast. You know, it's where sometimes we do Jeopardy, sometimes we do dad jokes, and our our new one of um wrong answers only. But today we're going back to a tried and true game of Jeopardy. So bear with me as I pull my Jeopardy board into the screen. Now, here we are, first part of February. You know, Bill, you know, one of my favorite movies of all time is Groundhog Day. Love Groundhog Day. It's a great movie, it's funny. Bill Murray is spot on and amazing in it. He really is. So, to that point, we're gonna play a little Groundhog Day Jeopardy in honor of it happening in February. Let's go. All right, so in front of you, Bill and Justin, is our standard Jeopardy board. Points ranging from 100 to 500. Categories are groundhog day facts, groundhog day facts, groundhog day facts, groundhog day facts, and groundhog day facts. Every single category is groundhog day facts. Um, so we'll just go column one, two, three, four, and five. So say five, category five for 400, if that's what you're gonna ask, just knowing that everything is groundhog day facts. You'd be surprised how difficult it was to kind of find a groundhog day or groundhog fact or jeopardy board. So I did not make this up. Um, so we'll see what happens. So for the sake of this, Bill, you are team one, Justin is team two. We're again we're gonna go ground uh call uh column one to column five and points from 100 to 500. Bill, fire away.
SPEAKER_01:I'll go column five for 100. I'll start right at the top. Column five, and I hope it's easy. I hope I went one because I'm hoping it starts easy because I think I'm gonna get smoked.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, forgot this one has multiple choice. Oh, thank God. About how long does a groundhog live?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'll tell you what, I've seen them in my yard, and they're a pain of the you know what? I wish it were sometimes a week, but they they live, they're not forever, they although they seem forever. I am going to go with um D 10 years.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, D 10 years. Now, please forgive me. I forgot to list it. A was forever, B four years, C six years, and D 10 years. Bill, you're going with 10 years. Justin, would you like to see it before I reveal the answer? No. Okay. The correct answer is what is six years? I didn't know.
SPEAKER_02:That's what I was gonna go with too. When in doubt, Charlie out.
SPEAKER_03:As long as every answer to the this this is C, we're good to go. Yeah, pretty much. Sorry, Bill, I'm deducting 100, but a smart move on your part. All right, Justin, where are we going? We're gonna go column three for 300. All right, groundhog day facts, column three for 300. What? Oh, this is by the way, this is kind of sort of fill in the blank. What is the fourth letter in the word G Day? So are you counting the letter that it shows?
SPEAKER_06:I'm assuming yes. Uh sure about that? I think I have to concur with that.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. The correct answer is. What is the letter U? Congratulations, Justin. Ice. You're supposed to listen.
SPEAKER_01:I think this is fixed. They give you a question.
SPEAKER_02:Justin knows that your question is probably more of the 300 level.
SPEAKER_01:All right, 300 300 question or a letter.
SPEAKER_03:That's right. Bill, what are where were we on? Okay.
SPEAKER_06:Uh, I will go with right there. Column one.
SPEAKER_03:Column one, 200. A dark area is made when an object is blocking a light source. Is that true or false?
SPEAKER_01:It's not really a question. I think it's asking.
SPEAKER_03:What is a shadow? Dark, or yeah, what is a shadow? Okay.
SPEAKER_01:What is a shadow?
SPEAKER_03:Justin, do you want to steal? No. I actually think that he's right. What is a shadow? Wow. Nice job, Bill. Nice job. Back. Back to the positive. Um, all right, Justin, where are we going? We're gonna go column four for 300. Groundhog facts for 300, you said? Yeah. What part of the groundhog never stops growing? Is it A, fur, B, T, C, tail?
SPEAKER_02:Ooh, that's a really good question.
SPEAKER_03:Let's go with B teeth.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Bill, what'd you like to steal?
SPEAKER_01:Now, if I try to steal, does it mean I have to and I fumble it? I get a I get a zilch.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I gotta be honest with you. I think I'm not sure if the teeth is the beaver in him, but it it feels like it might be right. I've never seen a 10-foot tail on a thing, so I'm gonna go, I'm gonna just leave it alone, let Justin have it.
SPEAKER_03:All right, the correct answer is. All right. Who would have known that Justin was a groundhog expert?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I had two really good questions. He bones up on this. He did. He did. All right, Bill, your turn. Bill, you're gonna have to step it up and quit going for these ones and twos.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm gonna go row five, five hundred.
SPEAKER_03:Row five, five hundred, groundhog facts for five hundred. Groundhogs have a different number of toes on their front and back feet. True or false?
SPEAKER_01:I'm going to go with true.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Justin, do you wanna say false?
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. All right. The correct answer is true. Groundhogs have four front toes and five back toes, just like other members of the squirrel family.
SPEAKER_01:So it's a squirrel family.
SPEAKER_02:Well, look at that. We just learned something else. Look at that. So far. Next question says what part of what member family are they? All right, Justin, go. Oh, all right. I'm gonna go with um column two for 400.
SPEAKER_03:All right, groundhog day facts for 400. What is the seventh? Give me a fucking what is the seventh letter in the word G Day.
SPEAKER_06:H.
SPEAKER_03:The correct answer is what is letter H? All right.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, too bad it wasn't 500.
SPEAKER_03:All right, at the end of however many rounds we've just done, I have Bill at 600 and Justin at a thousand. This will be our final round. Bill, where are we going?
SPEAKER_01:I'm going hard. Row four, five hundred.
SPEAKER_03:Groundhog facts for 500. This is where groundhogs live.
SPEAKER_01:I'll go with what is the ground?
SPEAKER_03:No, I'm not stealing.
SPEAKER_06:The correct answer is what is a burrow? What is the burrow on the ground?
SPEAKER_01:I don't know. You gotta lean in and shoot me?
SPEAKER_03:Sorry, Bill. I'll give it to you. I'll give it to you. Are you New Year's resolution? Nicer Peter.
SPEAKER_06:There you go. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:All right. Justin.
SPEAKER_02:See now I'm all flustered.
SPEAKER_03:You know what? What is the first letter in the word groundhog? I know.
SPEAKER_01:You're gonna go through the whole alphabet with that thing.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna go with column one for 300. Column one, three hundred. Groundhog day facts? The famous Groundhog Day event take place.
SPEAKER_02:I know everybody else knows it. Um you're looking for city and state.
SPEAKER_06:Uh no, just give me a city. Ooh, okay. Um like the potuxton.
SPEAKER_01:I'm I'm just stealing this one. Justin's fumbling it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I don't know the answer. It's like the pot pot like potatoxin.
SPEAKER_01:You can't see it on the podcast. His brain's melting.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Oh man, I was gonna win. Give me an answer.
SPEAKER_03:Potuxton. I don't even think. I think that's a real place. All right, Justin says Poc Tustin. Bill, you stealing? I am. All right. Poxitani. Oh my gosh, see y'all so close. Poxitani? Pennsylvania, right? Pennsylvania, yeah. Could have kept going. The correct answer is what is Pennsylvania? I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna take it, Bill. Congratulations. Sorry, Justin. Poxton. Hey, look, I was close.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm probably gonna do myself. How many more questions, Peter? One.
SPEAKER_03:Well, that was it. That we wrapped up. Oh wow. You won. Yeah, at the end of this episode's uh round of Jeopardy on point Jeopardy, we have Bill with 1400 and Justin with 700. Justin, Justin, you almost had it.
SPEAKER_02:I know, but I think that Bill might actually have set the highest score. I think so. Yeah, it's pretty bad. Like, no, we we usually don't score on these things.
SPEAKER_03:Well, Bill 1400 might have done it. Thank you so much uh for joining us on this episode of the Acmas on Point Podcast. Uh, this was fantastic. No better way to kick off season four and kind of the the new and improved uh pod. Again, my friend, thank you for everything you do for the credit game community. Uh Akima, and you hope to see you soon at at uh an upcoming event.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you very much, guys. Great being here. Of course.
SPEAKER_03:And Justin, thank you. Of course, it is my pleasure. And to all of you, we know your time is valuable. Thank you for tuning in to the latest episode of Acuma's On Point Podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, be well, my friends.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time at the Acuma on Point Podcast. If not already, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating. For more great episodes and information, be sure to visit us online at Acuma.org. And to get the latest updates, head over to our LinkedIn page.
