Mon, Aug 9 2010, 7:33 PM
Lender rate sheets this morning are improved when compared to last weeks. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.25% to 4.50% ra...
Fri, Aug 6 2010, 9:17 AM
AFTER THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION REPORT: Stock futures sold, the dollar declined vs. a basket of currencies, oil prices plummeted, gold looks great, and...
Fri, Aug 6 2010, 5:11 PM
Mortgage rates are unchanged on a week over week basis, 4.25% is still as good as it gets. Borrowers considering a refinance should submit a loan app...
Thu, Aug 5 2010, 10:17 AM
This morning one of my buddies shared a story with me. He had a loan officer ask him if it was possible to offer 4.125% to one of his consumers. Unfor...
Thu, Aug 5 2010, 8:19 AM
Ninety minutes before the bell, Dow futures are up 15 points to 10,650 and S&P 500 futures are 0.50 points at 1,124.75. The 2-year TSY note yield is l...
Thu, Aug 5 2010, 7:25 PM
The official Employment Situation report is slated to be released this Friday at 8:30am eastern. This event holds the most potential to move mortgage ...
Thu, Aug 5 2010, 2:29 PM
RISK REPORT: Borrowers who are on a timeline of less than 30-days to closing face the most interest rate risk. The farther out your closing date is, t...
Wed, Aug 4 2010, 10:47 AM
Morning data is behind us and the market is making an originator unfriendly directional move...
Wed, Aug 4 2010, 8:51 AM
As the dust continues to settle and the reality of a long, slow economic recovery sets in, one economic metric in particular will set the tone for the...
Wed, Aug 4 2010, 8:09 AM
Equity futures are trading lower this morning and interest rates are flat ahead of key employment and services data this morning. “Despite yesterday’s...
Tue, Aug 3 2010, 8:37 AM
The WSJ published a story today implying the Federal Reserve was considering the idea of reinvesting MBS prepays back into new production TBA MBS. Rea...
Tue, Aug 3 2010, 8:19 AM
The slow summer trade is in full effect ahead of what is setting up to be a directionally significant event this Friday: NonFarmPayrolls. If the Empl...
Tue, Aug 3 2010, 5:53 PM
The "best executed" lock/float strategy comes down to finding an originator who knows the loan market, studies underwriting guidelines, and just plai...
Tue, Aug 3 2010, 1:12 PM
The September FNCL 4.0 is +0-10 at 102-01 and the September FNCL 4.5 is +0-10 at 104-09. These are intraday highs. Some lenders may reprice for the be...
Mon, Aug 2 2010, 9:31 AM
The Week Ahead: Employment Situation Report, Pending Home Sales, ISM, Treasury Auction Terms, Construction Spending, Personal Income & Outlays,
Mon, Aug 2 2010, 8:06 PM
The "best executed" lock/float strategy comes down to finding an originator who knows the loan market, studies underwriting guidelines, and just plai...
Mon, Aug 2 2010, 3:32 PM
If you're a loan officer, I think the best advice I can offer is: Lock after you've gotten the file far enough to foresee an underwriting decision and...
Fri, Jul 30 2010, 11:10 AM
Rate sheet influential mortgage-backs are experiencing some localized weakness/relief. Nominally, spreads have been wider all morning but price level...
Fri, Jul 30 2010, 8:29 AM
A busy day awaits the markets as investors get their first look at second-quarter GDP. Also in the store is the influential Chicago Business Barometer...
Fri, Jul 30 2010, 4:44 PM
ALERT: There are some lenders out there, if the APP--to-->CLOSING process is flawless, where a borrower could close at 4.25% right now, without paying...
Thu, Jul 29 2010, 8:30 AM
Equity futures are trading higher this morning despite word from Moody’s that it would have to question America’s triple-A credit rating unless it pr...
Thu, Jul 29 2010, 1:09 PM
I hinted at this observation this morning but I will expand. The last time 10s broke through 3.00%...it was during an auction week. It just so happene...
Wed, Jul 28 2010, 11:44 AM
Front-month TBA levels set yet another new record high this morning and yield spreads continued to tighten vs. benchmarks. While the street more than ...
Wed, Jul 28 2010, 8:26 AM
The September Delivery FNCL 4.0 is +0-03 at 101-15. The FNCL 4.5 is +0-03 at 103-25. The secondary market current coupon is 1.2bps lower at 3.747%. Yi...
Wed, Jul 28 2010, 4:16 PM
I suppose the first step of this scenario coming true is the "double-dip". Some folks say the deflationary spiral has already taken hold, others say w...
Tue, Jul 27 2010, 8:41 AM
The S&P broke key resistance yesterday, this morning those advances are being extended and interest rates are trending higher.
Tue, Jul 27 2010, 7:08 PM
Stocks rallied after S&P/Case-Shiller data, but sold off after Consumer Confidence flashed. This created a bit more volatility in the bond market. Bot...
Tue, Jul 27 2010, 1:51 PM
The only reason I'm not saying this auction was terrible is because yields were so low prior to the issue that it likely kept some accounts on the sid...
Mon, Jul 26 2010, 11:53 AM
The last time S&Ps moved over 1,100, the 10 year note touched 3.12%, but that was right before the Treasury auctioned debt supply in the long end of t...
Mon, Jul 26 2010, 8:45 AM
Ahead of Friday’s look at second-quarter GDP, economists at BMO Capital Markets noted that earnings results have been mostly positive so far. “Even if...
Mon, Jul 26 2010, 4:42 PM
When asked "What Will Move Mortgage Rates in the Week Ahead?", our answer is NOTHING! That is unless the herd of investors who've parked their money i...
Fri, Jul 23 2010, 12:00 PM
These "stress tests" are just an exercise in improving confidence. The results are hypothetical and don't prove or disprove anything. If we were to ge...
Fri, Jul 23 2010, 9:03 AM
No significant data is released in the US, but the European Central Bank will release the results of bank stress tests. A survey of 376 investors and ...
Fri, Jul 23 2010, 3:34 PM
A mismatch between credit standards and the credit and collateral supplied by homeowners. Plus, the looming threat of a buyback always creates some so...
Thu, Jul 22 2010, 8:33 AM
Uncertainty is the only certainty and short-term tactical (non-committal) biases determine directionality. It's still a trader's world and we're still...
Thu, Jul 22 2010, 8:23 AM
Equity futures look set to erase yesterday’s afternoon losses.
Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are soaring 101 points higher a...
Thu, Jul 22 2010, 5:44 PM
Even though rate sheet influential MBS coupons backed away from newly set (again) price levels as risk markets rallied today, rate sheets were 7.4bps ...
Thu, Jul 22 2010, 4:48 PM
Although mortgage-backed security prices moved lower today, lenders still improved consumer borrowing costs, extending the streak of irregular mortgag...
Wed, Jul 21 2010, 12:43 PM
Rate sheets are about 40bps worse on average over the past three days and the FNCL 4.0 is 8 ticks of the high print seen on Friday. 8 ticks = 0.375% s...
Wed, Jul 21 2010, 8:34 AM
The stock market is looking to build upon yesterday’s gain, which were partially driven by rumors that the Federal Reserve was considering the idea of...
Wed, Jul 21 2010, 7:05 PM
Because mortgage rates are near all time lows, more and more consumers (not as many as last year) are coming down off their fences and applying for a...
Tue, Jul 20 2010, 9:08 AM
Stock futures are lower and interest rates are rallying after several key earnings releases failed to impress the markets. June Housing Starts and Bui...
Tue, Jul 20 2010, 8:11 PM
Mortgage rates have not been following the directional guidance of MBS prices lately. The best mortgage rates have been holding in the 4.375 to 4.625%...
Tue, Jul 20 2010, 1:52 PM
Just as they did yesterday, stocks are making a push higher as we head into the close. While the "flight to safety" is losing some of its luster as ri...
Mon, Jul 19 2010, 12:19 PM
Upon first inspection loan pricing looked better this AM, then I got a few more rate sheets and realized that wasn't the case. Two of the major lender...
Mon, Jul 19 2010, 10:57 AM
Rate sheet influential MBS just fell from the session highs to the session lows. The September FNCL 4.0 is -0-06 at 101-10. The FNCL 4.5 is -0-03 at 1...
Mon, Jul 19 2010, 9:06 AM
The events calendar in the week ahead focuses on the health of housing, the Federal Reserve's semi-annual report to Congress, a deluge of earnings, an...
Mon, Jul 19 2010, 4:48 PM
This BIG PICTURE uncertainty favors floating interest rates on a 45 day time line, but you better be ready to deal with added amounts of chopatility....
Mon, Jul 19 2010, 4:15 PM
After several days of behaving as if no other market existed, mortgage rates finally snapped back to reality today. Total consumer borrowing costs mov...
Fri, Jul 16 2010, 8:43 AM
Stock futures tanked after weaker than expected econ data, Treasuries are catching a FTQ bid and mortgages are playing follow the leader, albeit from...
