The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo publish the Housing Market Index (HMI) each month, otherwise known simply as "builder ...
One would think that the pace of new residential construction largely mirrors the pace of filings for building permits. And while that is generally tr...
Mortgage rates managed to make a nice amount of progress this week after hitting the highest levels in roughly 2 months last Friday. The first 2 days ...
The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) mortgage application survey was at the highest combined level since October in last week's data--a move large...
A week from today is “Take Your Child to Work Day.” Something tells me that it won’t be observed in U.S. Government offices. While we’re on family iss...
The market and market participants could use a break after everything endured over the past 2 weeks. This holiday-shortened week turned out to provid...
As markets digested implications of several fiscal policy changes over the past 2 months, a predictable trading pattern emerged. Stocks and interest r...
What a difference a week makes. The present example has been entirely different than the previous example in terms of volatility and directional movem...
“Every morning, I get hit by the same bicycle… It's a vicious cycle.” Double meanings aside, seasons and the earth’s rotation are cyclical, and Anchor...
Financial markets experienced relatively extreme volatility on several occasions following the April 2nd tariff announcements. The bonds that underlie...
In the context of the past two weeks, the past two days have been an anomaly. Not only have bond yields been moving lower, but they've done so in rela...
Here in San Diego at the CU:REALM event, Cotality’s Chief Economist Dr. Selma Hepp noted that consumer and business sentiment has already dropped and ...
Last Friday was notable in that it was the first day since February 19th where the average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate ended the day over 7%. La...
“Why don't you tell rumors in a Botox Clinic? Nobody raises an eyebrow.” Who can keep track of the rumors out there, like a combo of a well-known real...
Friday afternoon's memorandum on tariff exclusions set the stage for stronger trading in stocks and bonds in the overnight session. Bonds rallied stea...
It has undoubtedly been an extremely volatile week for financial markets and that includes the U.S. bond market to be sure. As an example, the poster...
There have been some bad weeks for bonds here and there over the careers of most anyone who's alive to read these words, but unless your career began ...
I don’t know if the rumor is true that Webster’s is considering adding “Tariffied” to its dictionary, but the word certainly fits the climate. Capital...
This article is not intended to report on the weekly Freddie Mac rate survey, but we'll have to reference it in order to participate in reality. To be...
It feels very odd to label a report like CPI as "irrelevant," and to be fair, traders were still paying some attention, but the trading response, in g...
“Over the course of 18 years, it costs over $235,000 for parents to raise a child... and that's just for the alcohol.” Here in Dallas, plenty of peopl...
For anyone remotely tuned into financial news, it will come as no surprise that this has been a crazy week and today has been a crazy day. This is ju...
How ‘bout some good news? Last week’s apps skyrocketed, and… Builders are sitting on a pile of unsold homes and are slashing prices and offering mortg...
MBS are down the better part of a point and 10yr yields are up 14+ bps at 4.44%. Another huge loss that leaves market watchers grasping for answers. ...
While no one can be sure exactly how things will pan out in the long run, the market is currently expressing extreme disapproval of the new tariff pla...
The past 2 days of selling in the bond market may seem dramatic, but they make solid sense in the bigger picture. Trump's April 2nd "Liberation Day" w...
Today I travel to the Dallas area for a Logan Finance event, and this comment from a friend last night is echoing in my ears: “Becoming an adult is th...
Tariff volatility giveth and taketh from interest rates. Up until Friday afternoon, it's been mostly "giveth-ing." In other words, the prospect of t...
It's been an interesting Monday so far for the bond market (and stock market for that matter). Despite a big risk-off move (stocks and yields lower) t...
“Many people told Beethoven that he would never be a musician because he was deaf. Did he listen?” This week hundreds of mortgage bankers descend on W...
This week is ending with the average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate at its lowest level since early October, 2024. The only way to be disappointed ...
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released the latest mortgage application data this week showing a modest 1.6% decrease from the previous week. ...
Despite today being "jobs report Friday," and despite the jobs report perennially having the power to cause big volatility for financial markets, over...
Ahead of next week’s MBA Advocacy event in Washington DC, I received this note from an industry vet. “With the continued consolidation into the large ...
Yesterday afternoon's tariff announcement sent financial markets on a ride that ultimately resulted in sharply lower stock prices and moderately lower...
While plenty of uncertainty remains over the finer points of Wednesday afternoon's tariff announcement, markets have heard enough to brace for impact ...
The Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times” can easily be applied to the residential mortgage business in the last month or so. This week a...
Mortgage rates didn't move much today, which is pretty crazy considering the volatility present in financial markets in the afternoon. That's when th...
Don't Sweat The Modest Weakness
Bonds began the day roughly unchanged and very flat for most of the morning. MBS began falling as we moved into the PM hours, ultimately resulting in a handful of negative repr...