Today, 10:09 AM
This week's economic calendar is choked with Fed speeches and most of them are happening today. Collectively, those will be more relevant than the re...
Tue, Oct 8 2024, 4:31 PM
Worst is Over. Now What?
Good things happened in the bond market on Tuesday. There was a bit of a scare in ...
Tue, Oct 8 2024, 3:50 PM
Mortgage rates spiked at their fastest pace in months on Friday following the jobs report and yesterday added insult to injury, making for a total inc...
Tue, Oct 8 2024, 11:51 AM
Here in Philadelphia and many other parts of the nation, the weather is autumnal. But that doesn’t matter for the thousands upon thousands of uninsure...
Tue, Oct 8 2024, 11:13 AM
Friday's NFP gave the bond market a solid whack, sending yields quickly higher. Momentum remained intact over the weekend and through Monday. Overse...
Mon, Oct 7 2024, 4:08 PM
Bonds Undergoing a Bit of a Reset
3 weeks ago, the Fed voted to cut rates by 0.50%. Traders had rushed to g...
Mon, Oct 7 2024, 3:24 PM
It's been a strange and frustrating couple of weeks for anyone who mistakenly believed that mortgage rates would move lower after the Fed rate cut. T...
Mon, Oct 7 2024, 11:43 AM
Yesterday I flew west to Philadelphia (“Philly”) to spend some time with the Spring EQ sales team. It is a well-known fact that the process of boardin...
Mon, Oct 7 2024, 10:27 AM
Here's a repeat of the lock/float considerations posted on Friday after the jobs report: "Friday's strong jobs report and resulting bond market rout c...
Fri, Oct 4 2024, 4:45 PM
Who Lied About Jobs Numbers?
Unpleasant day for the bond market with jobs crushing forecasts and being revis...
Fri, Oct 4 2024, 12:04 PM
Today's much-anticipated jobs report ended up coming out much stronger than expected. A stronger result was all but guaranteed to cause carnage (rela...
Fri, Oct 4 2024, 11:56 AM
As Maui grapples with rebuilding, and parts of the Southeast deal with continued rescue or recovery issues, where would our lives be without some levi...
Fri, Oct 4 2024, 11:32 AM
It is a very simple day for the bond market. There was a ton of anticipation for today's jobs report after the past two iterations raised concerns ab...
Thu, Oct 3 2024, 5:14 PM
ISM Makes For Negative NFP Lead-Off
If the bond market has to digest an ISM Services report that is much str...
Thu, Oct 3 2024, 4:59 PM
Depending on how tuned in you've been to changes in our daily rate tracking, the news may be getting old at this point. Rates have done almost nothin...
Thu, Oct 3 2024, 11:53 AM
Tis the time of year when pumpkins have magically appeared in bins outside supermarkets and on porches. Which state grows the most? It’s hard to beat ...
Thu, Oct 3 2024, 9:46 AM
There are some labor market reports that cause some concern about a weaker job market. And while Jobless Claims is often thought to be a leading indi...
Wed, Oct 2 2024, 4:03 PM
Wednesday's Market Movement Raises Stakes for Friday
There are times when the bond market seems not to care ...
Wed, Oct 2 2024, 3:52 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher today after an employment report suggested that Friday's forthcoming Employment Situation (the BIG jobs report) might come...
Wed, Oct 2 2024, 12:00 PM
The Fed's been saying it for several months and the market has been trading it accordingly for just as long: the focus has clearly shifted away from i...
Wed, Oct 2 2024, 11:43 AM
Whether it was Richey May’s lock picking kit, Maxwell’s milk frother, Total Expert’s socks, or Byte’s locally made sweet treats, there was plenty of v...
Tue, Oct 1 2024, 4:26 PM
Bonds Unexpectedly Forced to Focus on War Instead of Data
Just 30 minutes before the month's most important ...
Tue, Oct 1 2024, 4:04 PM
While the past 5 months have been well-stocked with victories for mortgage rates, the past week and a half brought a bit of a pull back. Most of that...
Tue, Oct 1 2024, 11:42 AM
We find ourselves in the 4th quarter of 2024. October is here! Do you want to beat the rush for buying the Halloween candy that’s most popular in your...
Tue, Oct 1 2024, 11:30 AM
This morning's slate of economic data is certainly higher-profile compared to yesterday with JOLTS and ISM Manufacturing always capable of moving the ...
Mon, Sep 30 2024, 5:27 PM
Mortgage rates have generally been moving higher since the Fed cut rates 2 weeks ago. We've discussed and explained that paradox exhaustively and can...
Mon, Sep 30 2024, 5:26 PM
Moderate Losses For Bonds as Powell Stays "Hawkish"
In the lexicon of market watching, the Fed is considered...
Mon, Sep 30 2024, 12:21 PM
Momentum has been building and focus has been shifting. After a few years of inflation reports giving the jobs report a run for its money in terms re...
Mon, Sep 30 2024, 11:43 AM
Well, this is the week that many have been waiting for: Fat Bear Week! The nearly 600 mortgage folks here in Las Vegas at the ACUMA event can talk abo...
Fri, Sep 27 2024, 5:22 PM
Finally Cooling Off Just in Time to Heat Up Again
Much of the past week has been spent monitoring the "post-...
Fri, Sep 27 2024, 5:10 PM
'Tis the season for things to be something other than what they appear to be, apparently. Lenders are talking about new loan limits, but they haven't ...
Fri, Sep 27 2024, 12:05 PM
Just a few months ago, the big ticket inflation reports were just as relevant as the jobs report in terms of their ability to cause movement in the bo...
Fri, Sep 27 2024, 11:49 AM
“Who was the first person that used technology? Moses. He had two tablets that were connected to the cloud.” Technology is a two-edged sword. On the o...
Thu, Sep 26 2024, 5:14 PM
More Resilient Today, But It's Still All About Data
The bond market is still searching for its identity in t...
Thu, Sep 26 2024, 3:25 PM
Because we created the industry's first daily mortgage rate index based on actual lender rate sheets without any subjective distortions, and because t...
Thu, Sep 26 2024, 11:41 AM
At the risk of tempting fate by discussing a leveling-off of the post-Fed correction again, the overnight session saw the most compelling case yet for...
Thu, Sep 26 2024, 11:39 AM
We’re all following Hurricane Helene and its impact on lives and housing stock in the news. Will Rogers famously said, “All I know is what I read in t...
Wed, Sep 25 2024, 4:49 PM
Is it Time to Worry About Bond Market Losses?
Ever since Fed day, it seems the bond market only really knows...
Wed, Sep 25 2024, 4:14 PM
Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels in more than a year and a half last Tuesday as the bond market put the finishing touches on its preparation for...
Wed, Sep 25 2024, 11:54 AM
“My people skills are fine. It's my tolerance for idiots that needs work.” Fortunately, in our business we have very, very few of those, and certainly...
Wed, Sep 25 2024, 11:35 AM
The bond market is in a bit of a lull with any excess buying demand flowing to the shorter end of the yield curve. Meanwhile, the long end has been d...
Tue, Sep 24 2024, 4:46 PM
Early Weakness Erased After Labor Market Warning Signs
The first few hours of domestic trading caused some c...
Tue, Sep 24 2024, 4:32 PM
The Federal Reserve is far from the only game in town when it comes to exerting influence on interest rates. That's a loaded statement, of course, co...
Tue, Sep 24 2024, 11:59 AM
Today I leave Illinois, with the world’s largest corn maze, and head to Nebraska, with the world’s largest ball of stamps, things that make life inter...
Tue, Sep 24 2024, 10:50 AM
Monday's trading session offered some hope that the post-Fed correction was losing steam, but purely from a technical standpoint. All we really know ...
Mon, Sep 23 2024, 4:57 PM
Post Fed Correction Leveling Off?
Based on the weakness in the bond market this morning, it looked as if the...
Mon, Sep 23 2024, 4:35 PM
Mortgage rates rose modestly last week after hitting long term lows before the Fed announced its 0.50% rate cut. In not so many words, mortgage rates...
Mon, Sep 23 2024, 11:39 AM
Summer has officially come and gone; the autumn equinox was yesterday. Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving are in the coming mont...
Mon, Sep 23 2024, 10:42 AM
We closed last week with the idea of "buy the rumor, sell the news" seemingly being a good way to think about the time leading into and away from the ...
Fri, Sep 20 2024, 4:20 PM
Modestly Weaker But Ultimately Uneventful
In terms of the realized volatility relative to potential volatili...