Officially winter ends on 3/19, as the Spring Equinox is 3/20. Most modern clocks these days auto-update when daylight savings begins/ends. So, Sunday morning I’ll be walking around my house thinking, “Wow... times have changed.” This Sunday many places will be changing their clocks and springing ahead. This will, once again, lead to the public asking politicians to do away with changing clocks, with stories of bad traffic and grumpy students. For something new, the Federal Reserve Board announced the termination of its 2018 enforcement action against Wells Fargo, following its determination that the bank had met all required conditions. Recall that Wells’ asset cap was lifted last June. Does this mean that “The Coach” is destined to open up a correspondent channel? Probably not, but if the risk & reward stars align, who knows… especially with solid business. According to Curinos’ proprietary application index, February 2026 funded mortgage volume increased 35 percent YoY and increased 2 percent MoM. The average 30-year conforming retail funded rate in February 2026 was 6.07, 9bps lower than January 2026 and 81bps lower than the same month last year. Curinos sources a statistically significant data set directly from lenders to produce these benchmark figures. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Feewise, which turns mortgage compliance from bottleneck to business accelerator. Handle all the complexities involved with establishing TRID compliant fees and disclosures, achieve sign off, and deliver packages to your consumers for review or signature. Hear an interview with FICO’s Julie May on how lender risk behavior is evolving, what is driving the growing adoption of trended data, and how new distribution models could reshape credit scoring across the mortgage industry.)

Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders

Less back-and-forth. More first-time-right verifications. Truework replaces manual verification waterfalls with a single automated platform, so underwriters, LOs, and ops can cut down the document chasing, conflicting numbers, and last-minute corrections. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times, higher accuracy, and stronger R&W relief. Trusted by 4 of the top 5 lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.

The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.

Webinars and Training From the Comfort of Your Home

Don’t want to dress up… or even leave the house? Tune in from your couch!

“Arc Home is hosting a webinar on recent updates to HomeEQ, its digital HELOC for brokers, on March 11 from 2–3 PM ET. The session will cover why brokers are choosing HomeEQ for a quicker, easier, more convenient HELOC process. Topics include a new Quick Pricer with soft credit pull and AVM to confirm eligibility early, along with broader income options such as retirement income, 1099 earnings, and Schedule E rental income. We will also cover our 2 percent broker comp model, and how you can fund in as few as 5 days. Use cases around debt consolidation and utilizing HELOCs on homes for sale will also be highlighted. Click here to register or reach out to VP of HELOC Sales, Lee Malone, directly for a personal demo of the HomeEQ platform.”

DTI is killing more deals than credit quality in today’s market. Many well-qualified borrowers with strong equity are getting boxed out simply because traditional products can’t make the math work. NMP is hosting an upcoming DealDesk featuring HighTechLending’s EquitySelect HELOC on March 25th 1pm ET/10am PT, a product designed specifically to address this problem. In a market where most lenders cap debt-to-income ratios at 43–50 percent, Equity Select opens the door to a much broader pool of well-qualified borrowers without sacrificing credit standards. This provides homeowners with real payment relief without requiring full amortization, making it a powerful solution for refinances, cash-out scenarios, and high-equity borrowers struggling with cash flow. Available in both first and second lien positions. DealDesk is an interactive forum where MLOs and brokers bring real scenarios, ask pointed questions, and explore how products perform on live deals. Sign up to attend and to submit questions and scenarios in advance here.

On today’s Last Word at 1:00 PM ET, the panel breaks down the latest market signals, agency developments, oil prices & mortgage rates, and where the industry got it right and wrong. The conversation cuts through the noise to focus on what actually matters heading into the next week.

There are the National MI, ARCH MI, MGIC, Essent, Radian, and Enact training calendars.

The MBA Education Group launched a series of eleven modules designed exclusively for Board members and Senior Executives who need to understand the risk landscape across the loan lifecycle. All sessions are led by authorities in their respective fields and attendance is capped at about 30 to encourage participation and dialogue. Topics include the legal and regulatory landscape, risk and controls, road mapping, and deployment strategies, and how to thoughtfully create an AI-forward enterprise. The AI session is led by Tela Gallagher Mathias and you will not find a better person to speak to your leadership team. The 2026 series will launch in February and run through September, with sessions every few weeks. We have also coordinated several private sessions specifically for company Boards and senior leadership. If readers are interested in the 2026 series or private offerings, they can reach out to David Upbin.

Servicing Smarter in 2026! The latest QC Now webinar offers mortgage servicers clear strategies to address evolving technology and regulatory demands. Industry experts explain how to use data and automation to manage increased volume and complexity, discuss AI’s impact on servicing quality, and outline a practical planning framework for 2026. The webinar features insights from Brock Miller, Director of Business Development at ACES Quality Management, and John Freda, VP of Compliance and Quality Control at Selene Finance. Watch the webinar on demand.

We have a show focused on technology and innovation (Now Next Later Mondays at 1pm ET).

A show focused on origination (Mortgage Pros Tuesdays at 2pm ET).

Register here for Wednesday’s (11AM PT) "Mortgage Matters: The Weekly Roundup” presented by Lenders One.

Educate & Elevate with National MI University's March Webinars. Here we go… The 7 Deadly Sins of Leadership (Part 1) - with Andrew Oxley, March 10 @ 2PM ET / 11AM PT. Overcoming Call Reluctance to Reach Sales Goals - with Rebecca Lorenz, March 11 @ 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Building a Culture of High Performance - with Dr. Bruce Lund, March 12 @ 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Win Prospects through Compelling Testimonials - with Julie Hansen, March 18 @ 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Closing the Gender Gap in Homeownership - with Kristin Messerli, March 19 @ 1PM ET / 10AM PT.

What are trending credit scores, and how do they compare to legacy credit models? Join MCT’s Tom Farmer and FICO’s Alyson Finn and Sabitha Thomas for “Introduction to Trending Credit Scores for Capital Markets”, a live webinar on March 10 at 11:00 a.m. PT. This session offers a practical, capital-markets-focused look at how trending credit data may influence risk evaluation, pricing, and strategy. Attendees will learn how trending credit intelligence found in FICO Score 10T reveals insights and lending opportunities beyond point-in-time analysis, how enhanced tools and data are improving risk prediction and portfolio performance, and how next-generation credit intelligence can support more informed pricing and asset evaluation. Register for the webinar to gain insight into how forward-looking credit analysis is shaping decision-making across today’s secondary market.

Join American Bankers Association (ABA) Office of the Chief Economist on April 28, 2 - 3 PM ET for a data‑driven look at the most important mortgage lending trends revealed in the 2025 HMDA release. This session will break down how loan volumes, borrower demographics, affordability pressures, and regional lending patterns are evolving and what those shifts mean for banks navigating today’s complex housing landscape.

Capital Markets

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has come to a total halt. Oil prices have skyrocketed, and that is of great concern in terms of the impact on the U.S. economy. U.S. foreign policy is entirely out of the hands of the Federal Reserve, charged with stable employment and inflation.

Expectations around Federal Reserve policy have shifted noticeably in recent days, and the bond market has responded quickly, triggering a selloff in Treasuries, pushing yields higher after a strong rally earlier this year. Geopolitical developments are currently overshadowing most economic indicators, muting the market’s response even to stronger labor signals like the ADP report, and resulting in a market that feels range-bound and somewhat cautious as investors balance real-time geopolitical risk against economic data that largely reflects past conditions.

Options traders are increasingly positioning for the possibility that the Fed may not cut rates this year, reflecting a growing list of uncertainties that includes geopolitical conflict, persistent inflation pressures, and the risk that higher oil prices could complicate the disinflation story... If oil stabilizes, the recent volatility in rates may prove temporary and allow the broader disinflation narrative to regain traction.

The 10-year Treasury yield began the year around 3.93 percent, climbed as high as 4.31 percent, and has recently settled near the middle of that range around 4.14 percent after closing near 3.95 percent just last Friday. While it is normal for benchmark rates to drift toward the midpoint of their range ahead of major economic data, a roughly 20-basis point move in just four days is unusually fast and suggests a broader repricing.

For now, financial markets appear to be absorbing the rise in energy costs relatively well: Treasury yields have not revisited recent highs, equity markets remain modestly positive for the year, and the yield curve continues to flatten amid demand for high-quality duration, suggesting that once energy-driven uncertainty subsides, the broader forces supporting lower long-term yields could reassert themselves. For the week ending March 5, the 30-year mortgage rate in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey rose 2-basis points to 6.00 percent after equaling the lowest level since September 2022 (5.98 percent) in the prior week. The 15-year rate slipped 1-basis point to 5.43 percent. From a year ago, respective rates are 63-basis points and 36-basis points lower.

Today brings the February payrolls report. The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, a touch higher than expected, and wages were +.4 percent, for the year +3.8 percent, but the big news was nonfarm payrolls coming in at -92k, a big miss versus the +55k expected. Annual benchmark revisions to the household survey, incorporating updated Census and immigration data, lowered reported levels of the labor force, employment, and job declines over the past year. We’ve also received previously delayed retail sales for January (-.2 percent). Sales were expected to come in weak due to the severe winter weather that swept the country during the month.

In other, less market-moving, news, today brings December business inventories, consumer credit for January, and remarks from no fewer than Four Fed speakers. After the overnight oil price news was drowned out by the economic data out of the United States, we find Agency MBS prices better by .125-.250 versus Thursday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.53, and the 10-year yielding 4.11 after closing yesterday at 4.15 percent.