Tue, Oct 7 2014, 7:32 AM
After an exceptionally busy week last week and with very little on the calendar of scheduled events, this is an understandably slow week for bond ma...
Tue, Oct 7 2014, 4:44 PM
Mortgage rates continued lower today at an exceptionally strong pace . The most prevalently-quoted conforming 30yr fixed rate for the very best s...
Tue, Oct 7 2014, 4:34 PM
I was disappointed to see a few article headlines coming out this afternoon crediting this morning's negative economic data in Europe for an impressiv...
Tue, Oct 7 2014, 2:47 PM
A recent audit of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) found that it was doing a good job in general in its role of
regulatory rule-mak...
Tue, Oct 7 2014, 2:20 PM
Fannie Mae said its September National
Housing Survey noted a rebound in consumer housing optimism after a dip was
recorded in August. Most indic...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 12:15 PM
Today's most notable feature is it's lack of volume and participation. Both have subsided since last Wednesday-- proof positive that economic data i...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 10:11 AM
Marriott
was fined $600,000 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for
blocking hotel customers from connecting to the internet on personal...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 7:35 AM
The week ahead is something of a palette-cleanser to last week's bolder flavors. Big-ticket events will now be few and far between , but the opportu...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 3:59 PM
One of our most frequently discussed themes of late has been the relative disregard for economic data on the part of bond markets. This was to be p...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 3:45 PM
The average age of a mortgage loan outstanding in
2014 is the highest in history Black Knight Financial Services said today. While the age of mort...
Mon, Oct 6 2014, 2:31 PM
Mortgage rates started the week off well , falling back in line with the lowest levels in a month .
Rates are close to those seen on Wednesday...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 12:11 PM
NFP came out much stronger than expected with solid revisions to the past two reports, and a drop to 5.9% on the unemployment rate. With revisions, t...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 10:14 AM
"Rob, do you have an easy article about who is responsible for the condition of a property after a foreclosure?" Yes - according to Henry Chuang in t...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 7:32 AM
There are only so many ways to discuss the same old charts and trends in bond markets. So let's have a fireside chat about NFP and the current state ...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 3:48 PM
Depending on which "close" we're talking about, bond markets may actually break even by the end of the day. In terms of the 3pm Treasury pit close, 1...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 3:03 PM
Mortgage rates were just slightly higher on average today, but retained a majority of the improvement seen on October 1st. That's impressive con...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 1:33 PM
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of
the Federal Reserve System released a report on Thursday critical of the way in
which the Board (and by ext...
Fri, Oct 3 2014, 1:29 PM
Business media are having a lot of fun
today over a throw-away remark Ben Bernanke made yesterday. In a question and answer session with Moody
An...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 12:40 PM
It's one thing for bond markets to ignore stock markets when the latter is moving less than a quarter of a percent day-over-day. That's been the case...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 10:59 AM
Along with its monthly report on mortgage credit
availability (MCAI) the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has introduced two
new measures, a conv...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 10:58 AM
Here's an
interesting story on a company in San Francisco that is doing
its best to refinance student debt, which in turn lowers the debt level
...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 7:32 AM
10yr yields dropped a precipitous 10bps yesterday. While this isn't much compared to some of the more volatile days of the past 6 years, it's one of ...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 3:50 PM
Bond markets had a fairly tame day given the potential for the ECB to move markets along with the potential to react to yesterday's big move. In gene...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 3:13 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today , depending on the lender. Some rate sheets were slightly better or worse than yesterday's latest, but the broader ...
Thu, Oct 2 2014, 1:30 PM
CoreLogic said this morning that over
the last 10 years the number of completed foreclosures in the U.S. has been the
equivalent of 15 percent of a...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 12:35 PM
It's asking quite a lot to believe that the single most consistent source of guidance and inspiration for trading levels--economic data--is pretty muc...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 10:58 AM
A lawsuit challenging the manner in
which profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) have been allocated to
the U.S. Treasury was dismisse...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 10:50 AM
When
I was young, my parents taught me that my income was my own business,
and talking about wages and bonuses with others never did anyone any
...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 10:19 AM
Last week was another down week for
mortgage applications according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Its Weekly Mortgage Applications Surv...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 7:39 AM
Today is the first day of a new month and new quarter, and Octobers have historically been active for bond markets. That leaves us to wonder whether ...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 5:42 PM
There's little else today's recap can offer that hasn't already been covered in the mid-day commentary. Check that out here: Strong Bond Market Rall...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 4:39 PM
Mortgage rates moved definitively lower today , restoring almost all of the ground lost during September's weakness. This has been a gradual proces...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 1:04 PM
Total construction spending in the U.S.
in August was estimated by the Census Bureau today to be at the seasonally
adjusted annual rate of $961.0 bi...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 12:38 PM
The relevance of month/quarter-end trading considerations isn't limited to the US Treasury market. Month-end for German bond markets (the largest in ...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 11:00 AM
How did we arrive at the end of the 3 rd
quarter so quickly? It has been filled with legal news about the
financial services sector right up to...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 10:48 AM
There was what the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
called "a significant slowdown in price increases in July S&P Dow
Jones Indices said today....
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 7:32 AM
It continues to be the case that economic data is guilty until proven innocent. The crime? Not being very relevant in terms of market movement compa...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 4:30 PM
Month/Quarter-end trading dynamics made for a volatile day in the context of the recent range. It wasn't so much that the moves were big, just that t...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 4:10 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) filed a Consent Order on Tuesday against Lighthouse Title, a title
insurer based in Holland, Michiga...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher today leaving September s one of only 3 months this year with noticeable upward movement. Things could have be...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 1:32 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) came down hard on Michigan-based Flagstar Bank both legally and verbally
as it issued the first ...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 12:24 PM
MBS and Treasuries are both in distinctly stronger territory today after an overnight rally that reached it's zenith by 9am. There are quite a few fa...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 10:52 AM
Pending home sales declined slightly in
August, mirroring a similar pull-back in existing home sales announced last
week. The National Association ...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 10:23 AM
Is it against the law for an employer to provide
an employee with better-than-market rates? KPMG hopes not . And the only thing I could find employ...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 7:43 AM
After September's big move higher in rates cooled off, we've been left in limbo , to some extent. There certainly hasn't been a painful continuation...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 4:51 PM
Bond markets were in the throes of a late overnight session rally by the time the domestic session began. The rally began at 6:30am Eastern time and ...
Mon, Sep 29 2014, 3:19 PM
Mortgage rates fell at a healthy pace today, bringing them to the lowest levels since September 9th. Gains in bond markets help rates move lower a...
Fri, Sep 26 2014, 10:44 AM
I don't know what you earn on your savings in
the bank, but I earn about 0%. I think plenty of others do as well, and
plenty of others are thinkin...
Fri, Sep 26 2014, 7:34 AM
Will GDP finally be the piece of economic data that actually moves markets? No... but it might play that role on TV. I'm serious actually.
Mark...
Fri, Sep 26 2014, 5:20 PM
In case you missed it, today saw one of the biggest ever market reactions to a personnel announcement. Get caught up HERE if you like. There is ...
