MMN Editor

FICO Crashes Most Since 2004 As Pulte’s Mortgage Score Shakeup Threatens Its Moat

Fair Isaac, the company that produces FICO scores, saw its shares crash the most in 22 years early Tuesday in cash trading after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte announced on X that a mortgage-pricing change that Wall Street analysts say could accelerate adoption of rival VantageScore and undermine FICO’s moat. 

“We are Simplifying Mortgage Pricing following feedback from lenders and consumers. Instead of two separate pricing grids, which makes zero sense, Fannie and Freddie are hereby moving to ONE PRICING GRID with VantageScore joining the existing FICO Classic pricing grid,” Pulte posted on X Monday. 

We are Simplifying Mortgage Pricing following feedback from lenders and consumers. Instead of two separate pricing grids, which makes zero sense, Fannie and Freddie are hereby moving to ONE PRICING GRID with VantageScore joining the existing FICO Classic pricing grid. pic.twitter.com/g9h1EqsDca
— Pulte (@pulte) September 28, 2026
Pulte cited a press release from Rocket Mortgage that stated: “Rocket Mortgage did an extensive study that helped the company determine VantageScore 4.0 opens access to some clients who wouldn’t be served otherwise, and many are able to secure a mortgage on better pricing terms. For those who saved money with VantageScore 4.0, the savings was an average of $1,600 at closing. FHFA and Director Pulte are encouraging competition and innovation in pilot programs.”

The below is from Rocket Mortgage. Only happens because because of President TRUMP:
“Rocket Mortgage did an extensive study that helped the company determine VantageScore 4.0 opens access to some clients who wouldn’t be served otherwise, and many are able to secure a mortgage on…
— Pulte (@pulte) September 28, 2026
The change gives lenders a stronger incentive to adopt VantageScore, potentially lowering costs for homebuyers while threatening FICO’s market share and pricing power. Traders responded by sending FICO shares tumbling 22% earlier this morning – the largest intraday decline since July 13, 2004.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts had to say (courtsey of Bloomberg): 

FT Partners

With pricing now in line, VantageScore could see increased adoption, with a lower hurdle for more favorable LLPA pricing, says analyst Craig Maurer
The move will allow more borrowers to qualify for lower rates, adding to VantageScore’s existing cost advantage
Under a common LLPA grid, borrowers whose VantageScore 4.0 exceeds their classic FICO scores could qualify for a more favorable pricing bucket when selected
TD Cowen

The news presents a risk to FICO because it’s not about which model is more predictive of defaults; it’s about the regulators shifting LLPA pricing to get lenders to use VantageScore over FICO, says housing policy analyst Jaret Seiberg
One long-term worry is that it creates an incentive for FICO and VantageScore to compete on producing scores that result in lowest LLPAs rather than on the risk of default
RBC (rates FICO as outperform)

The news meaningfully raises the risk of score shopping, where lenders select whichever model produces the more favorable credit score and a lower mortgage interest rate, says analyst Ashish Sabadra
With unified pricing, VantageScore’s market share gains could accelerate
Another risk is FICO may need to hasten its shift away from traditional per-pull origination fees toward other pricing structures to defend its economics
Deutsche Bank analyst Faiza Alwy asked clients, “Where is the moat?” 

Alwy provided clients with her first take on the developments:

Single pricing grid plus Rocket to use VS4 as preferred credit scoring model

There were two important and negative developments that happened post-close yesterday. The first one was FHFA Director Pulte indicating on X that based on lender feedback, the GSEs will operate on one LLPA grid and VantageScore 4.0 (VS4) will now join the existing FICO Classic grid. This means that the VS4 20 point discount to FICO has been removed by the FHFA and both scores will now be treated the same by the GSEs. This would likely in and of itself result in higher number of mortgages that will see favorable pricing with VS4 vs. FICO Classic. We would have expected continuing gaming and for lenders to optimize pricing with this change. However, the announcement from Rocket this evening following this change is meaningfully negative and consequential for FICO.

Rocket Mortgage announced that it will become the first mortgage lender to use VS4 as its preferred credit scoring model for all eligible loans. Specifically, during 4Q26, the company will default to VS4 for mortgages that will be delivered to GSEs, VA home loans and any other eligible mortgages. The company noted that after four months of testing, it found that VS4 helped more clients qualify and move forward in the mortgage process, while also reducing credit scoring costs. Rocket is a top mortgage originator with ~5-6% share (possibly higher following the acquisition of Mr Cooper in 4Q25).

We’re not entirely sure what the words “preferred” and “default” exactly mean at the moment but the worst case interpretation for FICO would be that Rocket Mortgage will not be pulling FICO scores at all when eligible. Important to note that the above excludes mortgages for investment properties and second homes, HELOCs, FHA loans, jumbo loans and some other products. Rocket Pro, the division that provides home loans through mortgage broker partners, will continue to provide both VantageScore and FICO to mortgage brokers. Rocket Pro comprised about 30% of the company’s origination volume in 2025. We estimate that in aggregate about both scores would be pulled 50% of the time (at origination). Encouragingly for FICO, Rocket did indicate that they will continue to evaluate new options as they become available (a likely reference to FICO 10T).

Could other lenders follow suit? It would make sense to assume that UWM would follow suit but we note that UWM operates exclusively as a wholesale lender and competes directly with RocketPro. Other lenders were not particularly active in the pilot program, so we expected limited movement near-term.

What does this mean for FICO’s mortgage strategy? FICO’s management continues to believe that notwithstanding significant price increases in the last few years, the score remains under-priced relative to the value it is providing. We expect FICO’s 2027 approach to pricing to be variable by lender with the company offering and implementing the performance model for some lenders. Ultimately this makes us much less confident with respect to FICO’s mortgage revenue algorithm at least in the near-term. That said, we believe the non-GSE securitization market will require FICO Classic for an extended period of time; recall that the FHFA has indicated it will provide both VS4 and FICO on all GSE loans that are securitized to investors. We suspect FICO will attempt to monetize the securitization channel or GSEs.

We will revisit our model as we gather additional information and the mechanics of these new late developments. In the interim, we expect FICO stock to understandably react negatively.

With FICO’s competitive moat under pressure, this new development raises the risk of “score shopping,” as lenders select the credit-scoring model that secures the most favorable mortgage pricing for prospective homebuyers.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/29/2026 – 10:55

If you bought one of Apple’s AI-ready iPhones because you expected the smarter Siri Apple had been talking about, check when you purchased it. You could have some money coming your way. A proposed $250 million Apple Siri settlement now has an open claims process for qualifying iPhone owners.The case centers on allegations that consumers bought certain iPhones expecting Siri features powered by Apple Intelligence that they did not receive during the period covered by the lawsuit. Apple denies the allegations and says it did nothing improper or unlawful.The amount may sound small next to the price of a new iPhone, but filing a claim could put as much as $95 per eligible device back in your pocket. There are a few important catches, though, including exactly which iPhone you bought and when you bought it.Missed CyberGuy LIVE? Watch the replay and discover 5 ways AI can help you get better healthcare.Our free CyberGuy LIVE class, Get Better Healthcare With AI, has ended, but you can still watch the full replay. Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson walks you through five practical ways AI can help you organize your health history, remember important appointment details, understand complicated medical information, research prescriptions and prepare smarter questions for your doctor. No technical experience is needed.Watch the free replay + downloadable checklist now at CyberGuyLive.com8 BIGGEST THINGS WE LEARNED FROM APPLE’S 2026 EVENTThe lawsuit is called Landsheft, et al. v. Apple Inc. and is pending in federal court in Northern California. The plaintiffs alleged that Apple promoted certain Siri features powered by Apple Intelligence, leading buyers to expect capabilities that were not delivered during the class period. Apple denies those allegations. The company agreed to put $250 million into a settlement fund rather than continue litigating the case. The agreement received preliminary court approval on July 17, 2026. The court has scheduled a final approval hearing for Feb. 24, 2027. That timing is especially interesting because Apple finally began rolling out its long-awaited Siri AI beta with iOS 27 in September 2026.The updated Siri can use personal context from information on your device, handle follow-up questions and take more actions inside supported apps. We recently took a closer look at iOS 27 and the new Siri AI features.The settlement covers seven models: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are excluded. Owning one of those eligible models alone does not qualify you. You must be the original purchaser and live in the United States. You also must have purchased the phone in the United States between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. The purchase had to be for personal or business use rather than resale. There is another important requirement. When you submit the claim, you must confirm that you expected to receive certain Siri Apple Intelligence features when you bought the device and did not receive those features as expected. Businesses can qualify, too. The official settlement site has separate filing options for individuals and organizations that purchased eligible devices for business use.The settlement sets the payment at $25 per eligible device, but the final amount can change. If fewer valid claims come in, the payment may increase to as much as $95 per eligible device. If more claims come in, the payment can fall below $25. Administrative costs, approved attorneys’ fees and other court-approved expenses also come out of the $250 million fund. You can submit a claim for each eligible device you purchased. That could make the payout more meaningful for someone who bought multiple qualifying iPhones during the class period. However, nobody knows the final payment yet. The settlement administrator has to count and validate the claims before that figure can be determined.12 BIGGEST APPLE WWDC 2026 TAKEAWAYS YOU NEED TO KNOWThe claims period officially opened on September 21, 2026. You can file through the official Smartphone AI Settlement website at smartphoneaisettlement.com. The deadline is December 21, 2026. The claim form asks for your contact information and information that can confirm your eligible purchase or ownership. You also need to certify that you expected the covered Siri Apple Intelligence features when you purchased your iPhone and did not receive them as expected. I would have your iPhone’s serial number handy before you start. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap General, then tap About. Your serial number appears near the top of that screen. You can press and hold it to copy it. The settlement site also says you may find the serial number on the phone’s original packaging or purchase documentation.The official site says people who received an email or postcard can file a claim. It also says people who believe they belong to the settlement class can submit a valid claim even if they did not receive a notice. So, I would not automatically write this off because nothing showed up in your mailbox or inbox. Instead, compare your purchase with the eligibility requirements and use the official settlement site. Be careful with links arriving through unexpected texts or emails. Large settlements often attract phishing attempts because scammers know people are looking for claim information. I recommend going directly to the official settlement website rather than clicking a claim link in an unsolicited message.Do not expect a payment right after submitting your claim. The court has scheduled its final approval hearing for February 24, 2027. The judge will decide whether to give the settlement final approval. Appeals could delay the process further. The official settlement administrator says payments will be processed after the settlement becomes effective, assuming the court approves it and any appeals are resolved. In other words, filing now secures your claim before the deadline. The check or digital payment could come much later.YOU COULD GET PAID FROM GOOGLE’S ANDROID DATA LAWSUITIf you qualify but do nothing, you will not receive a settlement payment. You will also remain bound by the settlement if the court gives it final approval, which affects your ability to pursue your own case against Apple over the claims covered by this lawsuit. The deadline to request exclusion from the settlement or formally object is also December 21, 2026. Anyone considering those options should read the official settlement notice carefully because the legal consequences differ from simply submitting a claim. CyberGuy reached out to Apple for additional comment but did not hear back before our deadline.Apple spent a lot of time building excitement around what Apple Intelligence would bring to Siri. If you bought one of these iPhones expecting those promised features, you may have been left waiting much longer than expected. Apple has now agreed to put $250 million into a settlement fund while continuing to deny the allegations. If your iPhone and purchase date qualify, I would take a few minutes to check your eligibility and file a claim. You could receive as much as $95 per device, depending on how many valid claims come in. This is also a good reminder to pay close attention when a company promotes upcoming software features as part of the reason to buy new hardware. What you are promised at launch and what you can actually use on day one may be very different.Did you buy an iPhone expecting Apple’s new AI-powered Siri, and do you think a payment of up to $95 per device fairly reflects how long buyers had to wait? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportCopyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike, the first woman to be executed by the state in 200 years. She was 18 when she tortured and murdered a woman.

Record Plunge In Real-Estate Job Opening Sends JOLTS Sharply Lower, Hints At Ugly Jobs Report

After five straight months of JOLTS beats earlier in the year, including two blowout prints for April and May and zero misses since 2025, the June JOLTS report was a surprising miss (despite the previously discussed surge in government job openings). One month later, the July JOLTS report made it two misses for two, when the US reportedly had 7.271 million job openings, modestly below the consensus estimate. Fast forward to today when moments ago the BLS reported that in August the number of job openings dropped from an upward revised 7.335 million (which ironically would have been a beat to last month’s estimate), to 7.079 million…

…. missing the consensus estimate of 7.228 million for the third month in a row.

Notably, this was the first upward revision to the data after three months. Of course, nobody can possibly forget the three straight years of negative revisions between 2023 and 2025…  

Where did the openings come from? According to the BLS the number and rate of job openings were little changed at 7.1 million and 4.3 percent, respectively. As shown in the table below, there were gains in trade, information, leisure and hospitality job openings, offset by declines in construction, manufacturing, professional/business services, and private education job openings.

The most notable category, however, was real estate and rental and leasing job openings, which plunged by almost half, dropping to just 50K in August, the lowest since Feb 2014.

The August rise in job openings was juxtaposed with an overall drop in July employment, which meant that after 9 months of labor surplus which ended in March, and after 4 months of modest improvements in the number of excess job openings, we are back to being on the verge of having fewer job openings than unemployed workers, as the August surplus tumbled to just 48K from 419K the month before, and a concerning development for the broader labor market which according to most other measures continues to fire on all cylinders.

The latest JOLTS data also means that after rising as high as 1.1x in July, the ratio of job openings to unemployed dropped back down to 1.0x.

While the job openings number was far weaker than expected for the third time this year, in July we also saw continued weakness in quits offset by a small bounce in hires. In August the number of Quits – or the “take his job and shove it” indicator – dropped by another 23K to 3.066MM from 3.089MM indicating a drop in confidence that better jobs await elsewhere; at the same time hires rose modestly by 46K, from 5.146MM to 5.192MM.

It goes without saying that disappointing job openings (which tumbled after an upward revision) while quits slump and hires barely rise, leads one to scratch their head how weak the labor market truly is. 

In any case, since this hires number feeds directly into the payrolls calculations (after netting out separations) this explains why the August payrolls report surged by 162K (at a time when the hires less separations print was 122K). And since the JOLTS implied number is far weaker than that, having printed negative for a third month in a row, we expect the August payrolls report this Friday to be yet another catch down, and will likely be much lower than the 162K increase reported last month. 

Overall, this was a weak JOLTS report, with weakness in both openings and quits, and shows that after some significant strength in the early part of of 2026, US labor market is now hitting an air pocket and this could translate into another notable miss in this Friday jobs report.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 09/29/2026 – 10:45

When a gunman approached a police cruiser outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, during Yom Kippur, approximately two dozen people were praying inside.The armed officer sitting outside was not part of a permanent security system available to every synagogue in Canada. Police had dispatched him after receiving a report about a suspicious vehicle. That decision may have prevented a massacre. “The only thing that stood in the way of every congregant of that shul being murdered was the presence of an armed police officer,” Simon Wolle, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, told Fox News Digital.ISRAELI MEDICS TRAIN US SYNAGOGUES HOW TO RESPOND TO ATTACKS, AS HIGH HOLIDAYS APPROACHPolice said last week’s shooting was a deliberate, hate-motivated attack targeting the Jewish community. According to authorities, 29-year-old Sean Ward approached Belleville Police Constable Jeff Smith and allegedly shouted, “You are going to die for the Jews,” before firing a shotgun at him.Smith was struck multiple times while still inside his vehicle. Despite his injuries, he emerged from the cruiser and returned fire. A second officer arrived within minutes and joined the confrontation. Ward later died at a hospital.Smith remains hospitalized after suffering multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body and serious head trauma. Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Smith faces multiple surgeries and a “lengthy and challenging” recovery, but said the officer is “making progress every day.”Smith’s wife, Ashley, has also spoken publicly about her husband’s recovery, describing the shooting as “the scariest and darkest day of our lives.””My words aren’t strong or steady yet, but I knew I needed to find them,” she wrote. “I needed to use my voice for my dear Jeff, until he is able to use his.”MAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULT, HATE CRIMES AFTER ALLEGEDLY DISRUPTING SHABBAT SERVICES AT NYC SYNAGOGUEAshley Smith also addressed the Jewish community directly, thanking those who have supported her husband and their family. “Please know that your love, your prayers and your support have reached us,” she wrote. “We are deeply grateful. We love you, we see you, we pray for you.”She said her husband still faces “a very long, difficult road ahead,” but added that he is surrounded by what she called “an army of love.”The worshipers inside the synagogue were not physically injured.Investigators later disclosed that the gunman possessed what Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd described as the “means, motive and mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue.” Police also reported discovering combustible materials inside the suspect’s vehicle.”This individual had the means, the intention, the deliberate plans and the capacity to conduct a murderous massacre,” Wolle said.For Wolle, the attack exposed more than a violent act of antisemitism. It revealed a legal and security system that he believes leaves Canadian Jewish institutions dangerously vulnerable.B’nai Brith Canada is calling for changes to federal and provincial laws that would allow synagogues, Jewish schools and other vulnerable institutions to hire qualified armed security guards.”There is currently no legislation in place that allows for Jewish institutions to hire the kind of armed protection that may be necessary,” Wolle said.Canada’s firearms regulations are controlled at the federal level, while private security is also governed through separate provincial rules. Wolle said those frameworks must be aligned so institutions confronting credible threats have a lawful way to employ trained, licensed armed guards.FLORIDA MAN INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY PLOTTING MASS SHOOTING TARGETING JEWISH EMPLOYEES AT ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONAt present, he said, Jewish institutions can ask police departments to increase patrols, although departments cannot always guarantee that an officer will be stationed outside. Communities can also try to hire paid-duty police officers, but availability remains limited.”So the only option right now for the Jewish community to protect itself from the unprecedented amount of violent attacks taking place all across this country is to plead with local police services to come by if they can,” Wolle said. “They will not guarantee that they will do so in most circumstances.”That leaves Jewish communities spending their own money to reinforce buildings, install surveillance systems and hire officers when available.”Right now, the Jewish community is using its own money primarily to build walls, put up stronger fences, add cameras and then pay for the privilege of having an armed police officer,” Wolle said. “Our lives are being threatened across the country, and the government hasn’t taken the steps to offer the necessary protection.”B’nai Brith has made two requests. It wants laws amended to permit qualified armed private security at vulnerable Jewish institutions and it wants the government to fund an increased police presence at those locations.Wolle said the burden of protecting Jewish Canadians from targeted violence should not rest solely on the people being threatened.”The government needs to meet its most basic obligation and responsibility, which is to protect its citizens,” he said.The numbers provide a stark context for his concerns. Statistics Canada recorded 788 police-reported hate crimes targeting Jewish people in 2025, representing more than 70% of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes that year.Wolle said Jewish Canadians constitute only approximately 1% to 2% of the country’s population, yet remain overwhelmingly affected by religiously motivated hate crimes. Preliminary data from B’nai Brith’s 2026 annual audit indicate that violent antisemitic incidents have already more than tripled compared with the total recorded throughout 2025.”There is a national crisis of Jew hatred in Canada,” Wolle said.B’nai Brith has been warning for months that antisemitic violence is accelerating. Wolle said the organization submitted recommendations and concrete plans to different levels of government before the Belleville attack.”We’ve been calling for many things from all levels of government,” he said. “We provided concrete action plans to each.”The shooting has intensified the organization’s demand that lawmakers treat the security of Jewish institutions as an emergency rather than another subject for future discussion.”The most urgent thing that is needed is a mechanism for there to be armed protection of Jewish institutions that are under attack right now in Canada,” Wolle said.He emphasized that B’nai Brith is not calling for firearms to be placed indiscriminately inside synagogues and schools. Its proposal concerns trained, vetted and qualified security professionals operating under a clearly defined legal framework.”If we don’t have enough armed officers, then we need legislative frameworks changed to allow for alternative armed guards to protect Jewish institutions,” Wolle said.Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the Belleville attack and called on anyone with information to contact law enforcement.RECORD ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN CANADA FUEL CRITICISM OF CARNEY GOVERNMENT RESPONSESIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER”On the holiest night of the Jewish calendar, a shooting took place outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville,” Carney said. “Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish lives.”Wolle welcomes expressions of support, but said Canadian Jews now need their government to move beyond statements.”The government gives us words and no action,” he added.Belleville offered a disturbing picture of what could have happened without an armed officer outside. The congregants did not know that a man police say was driven by hatred had allegedly arrived with weapons and the capacity to cause mass casualties.One report of a suspicious vehicle led to one officer being placed outside. That officer, Wolle stressed, became the barrier between the gunman and the people praying inside.”In the wake of these harrowing events, Canada’s Jewish community cannot wait any longer for the government to act,” he said.The people inside Sons of Jacob survived. Wolle’s warning is that Canada cannot depend on chance, a suspicious-vehicle report or the availability of a single officer the next time a Jewish institution is targeted.”This is not a Jewish community problem,” he said. “This is a Canadian problem.”

A group of professional skydivers who witnessed a plane crash took an extraordinary route to the scene — jumping from their own aircraft to reach the victims.The men, all experienced skydivers with Skydive Milwaukee, were preparing for a jump when they spotted a small plane near East Troy Municipal Airport on Sunday, according to the Town of East Troy Police Department.John Bechtel, one of the skydivers, told local outlet WSMV the plane appeared to be flying unusually before disappearing behind a line of trees.MIDAIR SCARE FORCES PACKED PASSENGER JET INTO EMERGENCY LANDING, TRAVELERS HOSPITALIZED”He kind of banked up a little bit, and then, he disappeared behind the trees,” Bechtel recalled.”We were all sitting there waiting for him to show back up somewhere, and [he] never did,” he added. “We all just kind of looked at each other like, ‘Did we just see a plane crash?’”The single-engine plane had crashed in a cornfield near the airport.The group quickly asked their pilot to identify a safe place for them to jump so that they could help.PROBE UNDERWAY AS 7 FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SICKENED BY BAFFLING ODOR ON MAJOR AIRLINEAir traffic control told the pilot it was his call whether to drop the skydivers over the area.”It is your discretion if you want to drop jumpers over the area,” air traffic control told the pilot, according to WSMV.”Yes, I am going to drop a couple of them. Yeah, we are going to drop ‘em right now,” the pilot reportedly replied.The skydivers were the first to reach the crash site.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERThey alerted emergency crews.One of the jumpers, a former paramedic, treated a person with a serious head injury until emergency service workers arrived.All four people aboard the plane survived, with Bechtel saying that the timing “couldn’t have been any better.””Had we left five minutes earlier, we wouldn’t have seen it,” Bechtel told WSMV. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWS”Had we left 15 minutes later, we wouldn’t have been able to get there first and assist.”Bechtel said it was the first time he had ever jumped out of a plane to respond to an emergency situation.”I’m just glad that we were able to do what we were able to do and get in and help,” Bechtel said, per WSMV.TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZHe added, “To be able to do this and to be able to help others in need — I would absolutely do that in a heartbeat.”Fox News Digital reached out to Skydive Milwaukee for comment.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the cause of the crash. Fox News Digital also reached out to the organization for details on the cause of the crash.

Long before Starbucks became shorthand for coffee culture, Americans were opening cans of coffee from brands like Gold Shield, Savarin and Schilling. This National Coffee Day, many of those once-familiar names exist mostly in memory.But that may be exactly why they still resonate.”I think there’s a lot of nostalgia and romance around coffee because I do think it’s such an important part of daily life,” said Wendy Pojmann, a professor of history at Siena University who has studied coffee culture and wrote “Espresso: The Art and Soul of Italy.”6 ICONIC AMERICAN RESTAURANTS STILL SERVING UP NOSTALGIA AND CLASSIC FLAVORSFor people who grew up with those brands, Pojmann said the connection often goes beyond what was in the cup.”So, I do think that, especially if you grew up and you smelled the coffee in the kitchen and maybe your mom and dad or your grandparents were preparing a certain kind of coffee, those memories are important and we associate memory with smell,” she told Fox News Digital.Coffee culture looked different then, too. Convenience helped define the American coffee routine, from instant coffee to the automatic drip machines that became fixtures in American kitchens.”Americans, again, were interested in ease, efficiency, things being relatively quick,” Pojmann said, describing a routine that might include grabbing a big can of Folgers from the grocery store and brewing it at home.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERFolgers and Maxwell House endured, but plenty of other familiar names did not. Smaller regional and local coffee brands were often acquired by larger companies, Pojmann said, part of a cycle of consolidation that has played out repeatedly in the coffee business.Gold Shield, a once-popular West Coast brand, and Savarin, a longtime East Coast favorite, were among the coffee labels that eventually disappeared after changing hands.Their fate reflected a broader consolidation in the coffee business, as larger companies acquired smaller regional and local brands, Pojmann said.Then came another shift. Chains such as Starbucks and Dunkin’ helped reshape American coffee culture, followed by the rise of specialty coffee and a new generation of small roasters and boutique brands.TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZMore recently, specialty coffee has created another generation of small roasters and boutique brands.Pojmann said today’s coffee market includes everything from huge national brands to tiny small-batch roasters.Still, a coffee brand doesn’t necessarily disappear when its cans leave supermarket shelves.CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWSPojmann said she sometimes spots tins from bygone brands in vintage and antique stores, where an old label can unexpectedly reconnect someone with the past.”Maybe you hadn’t thought of it in years and then you see that label on the can and you think, ‘Oh yeah, I remembered my grandfather used to make that coffee for us,'” Pojmann said.For some coffee drinkers, a favorite old brand may be long gone from the supermarket aisle. But the smell of a pot brewing can still bring back memories of the people who once poured it.

Iowa wide receiver Reece Vander Zee hauled in the catch of a lifetime as time expired in The Big House, but don’t ask him to recount what exactly went down on the field.Vander Zee, who led the Hawkeyes in receptions against Michigan in Week 4, caught a 16-yard pass from quarterback Hank Brown to hand the Hawkeyes a stunning 20-19 win on the road against the Wolverines.It was one of those magical moments, at least if you’re an Iowa fan, that portrays the magic of college football, and while Vander Zee explained that the Hawkeyes routinely run that exact play during practice, he doesn’t remember any of the exact details about the game-winner.FLORIDA GATORS, MISSISSIPPI STATE SOAR, USC TUMBLES IN LATEST INEXPLICABLE AP TOP 25 POLL”We run that play every week, just you know, end of game situations, we do that every week,” the junior pass catcher explained on Sirius XM. “It was crazy, I kind of blacked out. Don’t really remember. I just remember all my teammates in my face. But yeah, it was just a great great team win. It’s just great to see everybody having a good time. You know, coach Ferentz is just as happy as anyone, and just great to be great to play for him and great to have this opportunity, so it’s awesome.”While the throw and catch between Brown and Vander Zee as time expired will go down in Iowa history, so too will the final drive the Hawkeyes put together to pull off the stunner.THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!Trailing by five, Iowa received the ball with 1:37 remaining in the game before using its final timeout with 34 seconds on the clock on its own 42-yard line. A 15-yard penalty on Michigan with 26 seconds left moved the ball into Michigan territory, but the Hawkeyes didn’t move the football again until a 29-yard completion with two ticks on the clock.Michigan defender John Henry Daley went down with an injury, which stopped the clock in a situation where Iowa may not have gotten another play off, but when gifted a stoppage in play, the Hawkeyes delivered the goods with a perfect ball from Brown into the hands of Vander Zee.Iowa moved to 4-0 on the year, setting up a massive showdown this Saturday against 3-1 Ohio State, while the Wolverines dropped to 3-1 and lost a huge margin for error if they want to make the College Football Playoff.