Thu, Oct 17 2024, 3:45 PM
Mortgage rates are driven by the bond market and bonds consistently take cues from economic data. Traders have been waiting on this Thursday's econom...
Thu, Oct 17 2024, 11:53 AM
Ever since last Thursday's econ data failed to cause a stir in financial markets, we knew we'd be waiting until today for big, data-driven volatility ...
Thu, Oct 17 2024, 11:43 AM
Today would have been the 65th birthday of comedian Norm Macdonald. And while that may make your head shake, here’s something else that definitely wil...
Wed, Oct 16 2024, 4:24 PM
Thursday Morning is This Week's Biggest Volatility Risk
While there was certainly a bit of an upward drift i...
Wed, Oct 16 2024, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates have been holding in a fairly narrow range since the middle of last week and today was one of the least interesting additions to the tr...
Wed, Oct 16 2024, 11:46 AM
An attorney will tell you, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Today I head to the Portland/Vancouver area for a few days with Banner Bank. Oregon ...
Wed, Oct 16 2024, 10:48 AM
The market was hungry for data before the jobs report week and has been even hungrier since then. Unfortunately, there haven't been many compelling r...
Tue, Oct 15 2024, 4:34 PM
Uneventful Day, But That's a Victory These Days
Last week's bond market action offered some glimmers of hope...
Tue, Oct 15 2024, 4:03 PM
The average mortgage lender is quoting rates that are just a fraction of a hair lower today compared to last Friday. Lenders were either closed or ot...
Tue, Oct 15 2024, 11:44 AM
Some things aren’t what they seem to be. What about places… what if you moved and your new home wasn’t how it originally seemed to be? There is a tren...
Tue, Oct 15 2024, 9:36 AM
Bonds moved into stronger territory over the 3 day weekend in a move largely attributed to de-escalation in the Middle East and the sharp drop in oil ...
Fri, Oct 11 2024, 3:58 PM
Boring Week and Next Week Isn't Much More Promising
It's always a bit jarring to go from something like last...
Fri, Oct 11 2024, 3:28 PM
While this week's rates were substantially higher than most of last week's, if we remove a few flashes of volatility, the average lender stayed very ...
Fri, Oct 11 2024, 11:48 AM
Preparing for the next hurricane in Florida? Or Louisiana? Or Texas? Call this really smart or really humorous, it’s up to you. (And no, I don’t know ...
Fri, Oct 11 2024, 11:14 AM
When it comes to economic data with any real significance, today only offered two reports: PPI and Consumer Sentiment. Neither have an especially stu...
Thu, Oct 10 2024, 4:53 PM
Bonds Turn Green Despite Plenty of Volatility
It was touch and go in the mid-day hours as early stability (m...
Thu, Oct 10 2024, 3:59 PM
We can appreciate that the daunting task of determining what "the" actual mortgage rate may be at any given moment. The word "the" is singled out in ...
Thu, Oct 10 2024, 12:52 PM
Hey, I like a good raccoon swarm as much as the next guy, but you couldn’t pay me to walk out there in that yard. Speaking of pay, a common question i...
Thu, Oct 10 2024, 11:34 AM
At first glance, it looks as if the bond market will make it through Thursday morning without being too worse for the wear. When the monthly core CPI...
Wed, Oct 9 2024, 3:45 PM
Don't Expect Salvation From CPI
Bonds lost a bit of ground on Wednesday with Treasuries having a far rougher...
Wed, Oct 9 2024, 3:28 PM
Today brought the release of the minutes from the most recent Fed meeting in addition to numerous Fed speeches and the scheduled auction of 10yr Treas...
Wed, Oct 9 2024, 11:39 AM
Should it concern us that, a few days ago, it was pointed out that from now until Nov. 26, there’s at least one football game on TV to watch every day...
Wed, Oct 9 2024, 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...
