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After seven years at SNL, Ego Nwodim announced last Friday that she is leaving the show. And while cast members rarely get a chance to say goodbye to their fans from the SNL stage, Nwodim got her flowers at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, where the audience gave her wild applause. Nwodim joined SNL in 2018 and quickly became a standout performer. She’s had many viral sketches. Nwodim was memorable as “Lisa From Temecula,” making Pedro Pascal laugh so much he could barely continue the sketch. There was also the “Mid-Day News” sketch, in which newscasters split up along racial lines, keeping score about which communities commit more crimes. It takes time for cast members to get their groove, Nwodim says. They go through an adjustment period when they blend their personal brand of humor to the show’s style. “SNL’s an institution, and the show has its own voice,” she says. “So your job as a comedian coming to SNL is to figure out what I want to do for this particular audience.” From left: Mark Wilson, Karl Lieberman, Ego Nwodim and Jeff Staple speak onstage during the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2025 on September 17, 2025 in New York City. [Photo: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Fast Company] She may be best remembered for appearing on Weekend Update as the character “Miss Eggy,” who wants to make her case that she should be the stand-up comedian at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner because she would only make apolitical jokes about food. The sketch made news because during a call-and-response moment, she says, “Men don’t know . . .” and the audience shouted in unison, “shit!” The problem is that the FCC could fine the show for allowing an expletive to be said on the air. “I really did not expect the audience to do that,” she recalls. “The joke is supposed to be that I’m performing with such hubris that I think people would know my silly little catchphrases, even though I’m a nobody. I promise, if we had known that’s how the audience would have responded, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.” Nwodim’s departure came as a surprise. NBC had revealed the cast members that would be returning for Season 51, and Nwodim appeared to be on that list. But Nwodim made the decision to step out on her own. And she’s eager to find new ways to showcase her talents as a comedian and actor. “SNL is always meant to be a stepping stone,” she says. “There’s so many ideas I haven’t had time to create, and I’m looking forward to doing that. Things like directing and writing in a different capacity.” We’re already getting a glimpse of Nwodim’s post-SNL life. At the Calvin Klein New York Fashion Week show, she interviewed celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Chris Briney on the red carpet. She’s also in a new ad for the gym chain Solidcore. But at heart, Nwodim is a comedian. And over the last seven years, one of her best lessons at SNL has been finding her authentic self. “There was a time when I tried to separate what I actually thought was funny with what I thought other people would find funny,” she says. “But the things that seem to work best are the things that I say with my friends at lunch or over the phone. Miss Eggy came out of a voice that I did with my friend Ashley. I’ve realized that this is the version of me that people want to see.”
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Last week, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate tracked by Freddie Mac hit a calendar-year low of 6.35%. Its likely this weeks reading could come in even lower given that the daily rate reported by Mortgage News Daily was 6.13% on Tuesday. In recent months, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has edged down. Part of the decline can be attributed to a continued gradual compression of the mortgage spreadthe difference between the 10-year Treasury yield and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rateas some investors slowly regain their appetite for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and help fill the void left by the Federal Reserve when it stopped buying MBS in spring 2022. The other factor putting downward pressure on mortgage ratesand long-term yieldshas been a recent stretch of softer-than-expected labor market data and financial markets growing expectation that the Fed will shift policy from restrictive to neutral. Even though the Feds expected short-term rate cuts havent happened yet (a 25 bps Fed cut is expected tomorrow), analysts at Bank of America believe that most of the 2025 decline well see in mortgage rates is already baked in. In fact, in a forecast Bank of America published on Tuesday, they project that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will likely end 2025 at 6.25%. What would it take to get the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.0%? The MBS team [at Bank of America] does see a path to a 5% mortgage rate if the Fed does MBS quantitative easing and yield curve control, driving the 10-year [Treasury yield] down to 3.00%-3.25%, wrote Bank of America analysts in a report published on Tuesday. When Bank of America says MBS quantitative easing, they mean the Federal Reserve going out and buying mortgage-backed securitiessomething it has done in recent decades when the economy and labor market have weakened. Long-term yieldssuch as the 10-year Treasury yield and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rateare determined by demand (or lack of demand) for the underlying bond. Yields move inversely to bond prices. If demand for long-term bonds rises, bond prices go up and yields/mortgage rates fall. If bond demand falls, bond prices drop and yields/mortgage rates rise. Hypothetically, if the unemployment rate were to spike and the economy weakened, financial markets could respond with a flight to safetydriving up demand for Treasuries, which would push bond prices higher and yields/mortgage rates lower. At the same time, the Fed could respond with emergency cuts to the federal funds rate and, if the downturn were severe enough, potentially resume purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), adding further downward pressure on mortgage rates. Big picture: IF the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate falls to 5.0% anytime soon, Bank of America believes it would likely be because the economy has taken a negative turnor perhaps because the central bank adopted a new policy approachand resumed buying mortgage-backed securities.
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An experimental GLP-1 pill from Eli Lilly just outperformed Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide. In a new study, Eli Lilly’s oral pill, orforglipron, helped lower diabetes patients blood sugar more and weight better than Novo Nordisks (sold under brand names Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy). According to a Sept. 16 press release, three separate doses of the new drug (6 mg, 12 mg, and 36 mg) demonstrated “significant improvements” in body weight reduction compared to a placebo at 72 weeks. “Obesity is a complex, global health challenge and patients need treatment options that are both effective and easy to integrate into everyday life,” Sean Wharton, M.D., director at Wharton Medical Clinic and lead investigator, said in the release. Wharton continued, “In this Phase 3 study, orforglipron demonstrated strong efficacy results and safety consistent with the GLP-1 class, reinforcing its potential as a first-line treatment in primary care. Additionally, orforglipron could help reduce known markers of cardiovascular risk associated with obesity and support meaningful improvements in public health.” Notably, the highest dose of the new drug lowered A1C more than Novo Nordisk’s drug, semaglutide, bringing it down by 1.9 percentage points compared to 1.5 percentage points. Similarly, the new drug worked better for weight loss, with a 8.2% reduction, compared to 5.3%. According to the release, the company is advancing the drug toward regulatory submissions. It said it anticipates it will be submitted for treatment of type two diabetes next year. However, experts say the new drug could be fast tracked under the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Pilot Program. The standard review takes 10 months, but under the pilot program, it could be available in two. “People living with obesity have broad and varied needs whether it’s improving weight, A1C, lipids, blood pressure, or other health markers that primary care physicians routinely address with their patients,” said Kenneth Custer, Ph.D., executive vice president and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health. Custer continued, “We’re encouraged to see orforglipron improve many of these areas in ATTAIN-1. As a convenient, once-daily pill that can be scaled globally, orforglipron could be ideally suited for early adoption in primary care where proactive intervention has the potential to lead to meaningful, long-term health improvements.”
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