Fri, Sep 13 2013, 12:59 PM
The Treasury Department has released a graphics-filled Power Point presentation
titled The Financial Crisis Five Years
Later , Response, Reform, a...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 12:14 PM
Darrin Benhart, Deputy
Comptroller for Credit
and Market Risk, Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said in
a speech on Wednesday that the...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 11:54 AM
For bond markets, it's another day of "positivity, but with a
catch." That's been the case with every single drop of positive
momentum this week!...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 10:56 AM
Japan's Nikkei newspaper is
quoting unnamed sources saying that former Clinton Administration Treasury Secretary
Lawrence Summers will be the next...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 10:23 AM
After 36 years of space travel and months of heated debate among
scientists, NASA confirmed Thursday that Voyager 1 has indeed left our
solar syst...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 5:42 PM
Mortgage rates improved slightly today, bringing
them to their best levels of week. The day's economic data, which
stood a chance to push rat...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 4:43 PM
It takes some measure of bravery to bet big rates moving
significantly lower or higher from current levels when the rest of the
market is so decid...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 3:42 PM
A second
set of amendments and clarifications to the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau's (CFPB) January 2013 mortgage rules will be released this...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 1:43 AM
At this point, next week's FOMC events are on a pedestal so high that
their actual stature may be hard-pressed to live up to the legend.
After al...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 1:34 PM
The panel of
four witnesses that appeared before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the
Essential Elements of Housing Finance Reform were large...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 12:21 PM
Citi is a global bank, and unfortunately for some of its workforce, there will be fewer of them in the mortgage group. Per FOX Business, Citigroup pl...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 10:25 AM
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
which it created appear to be a lo...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 9:55 AM
Falling foreclosure starts pulled overall foreclosure activity down 2
percent in August compared to July and 34 percent lower than one year earlier. ...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 8:14 AM
Yesterday traded like the Thursday of an auction week rather than a Wednesday, in that there was a noticeable sigh of relief
in bond markets after...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 5:08 PM
Mortgage rates held almost perfectly flat today, after
starting the day in stronger territory and losing ground in the
afternoon. As such, Co...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 4:34 PM
Today's commentary began with the observation that yesterday seemed
more like the culmination of an auction cycle than the middle of one.
Today's...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 2:46 PM
The Director of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) finally got to present the Bureau's third Semi-Annual
Report to the House Financial...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 2:38 PM
The Mortgage Bankers
Association (MBA) said that applications for mortgages to purchase new homes
dropped 14 percent in August to a seasonally adj...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 1:22 PM
Treasuries were stronger overnight as Asian accounts kicked off the
session piling in to the same post Verizon/10yr Auction positivity seen
during...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 12:04 PM
The MBA numbers this morning confirmed that business is slowing even
more. Lock desks knew it but the MBA confirmed it: the Mortgage Bankers
Assoc...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 9:05 AM
The rally in
refinancing reported last week by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) was
short lived. Rates rose again during the
week ended Sept...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:46 AM
Even with backs already up against a wall, bond markets still managed
to find a way to be weaker on Tuesday. Perhaps this means we need to
adjust...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 5:30 PM
Mortgage rates changed course yet again, this
time heading back down after yesterday's rise ended a reasonably strong
2-day move lower. Today...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 5:21 PM
The credit crunch, the financial
collapse, and the ensuing deep recession will likely stand as the most
significant financial events of our generati...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 5:15 PM
MBS began the day roughly in line with yesterday's latest post-roll
levels (meaning October's 30yr Fixed Fannie/Freddie MBS opened today
where the...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 2:16 PM
Despite a lawsuit and threats from the
securities industry and the federal government to cut off its credit, the City
Council in Richmond, Californi...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 1:13 PM
The 10yr Auction just came in much stronger than expected. Bond
markets had been volatile ahead of time as the massive Verizon corporate
bond off...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 12:56 PM
Bond markets began the day in weaker territory with a number of
factors eligible for blame. Overnight data was stronger in China and
Europe.n Te...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 10:34 AM
Several fair housing and civil rights
groups have come to the side of the City of Richmond, California as it attempts
to use its power of eminent do...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 10:30 AM
Last month this commentary mentioned the possibility of a maximum
loan amount reduction by the agencies. It has now become mainstream news
- a poo...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 7:46 PM
HUD is struggling to make the grade, regardless of potentially valid
excuses. That's the short version. The longer version in today's
testimony ...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 6:56 PM
Mortgage rates bounced back toward recent highs today, ending
a fairly healthy two-day move lower after last Thursday saw the highest
rates in...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 6:43 AM
Tuesday sees the inception of both the Treasury Auction cycle and the
MBS Settlement cycle for the week and month. For MBS, this merely
means tha...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 5:25 PM
At this point in the day, it looks like MBS will be able to make it
to the exits with sustaining any major damage on top of that which was
already...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 1:19 PM
While they don't agree on the numbers or use the same timeframes, the
two reports on underwater mortgages released in the last week do conclude that
...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 12:15 PM
Treasuries were strong and steady overnight, building the sense
that Friday afternoon's weakness was more a factor of investors pulling
up stake f...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 10:39 AM
Fannie Mae said today that results of
its monthly National Housing Survey shows that Americans are aware of and
following trends in the housing ma...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 10:28 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
reported the first drop in its new Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) since
it became publicly avail...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 10:08 AM
We're all watching the residential lending industry change, although
in Saturday's commentary I noted several bank mergers from recent weeks.
Whet...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 6:37 AM
After Friday's Employment Situation Report posed just as many questions as it cleared up, we now move on to the countdown for the next watershed even...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 5:06 PM
Mortgage rates continued lower today, further
undoing much of the damage caused by last week's run to the highest
levels in over 2 years. Fri...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 4:25 PM
There's very little to observe and even less to conclude about the day
of MBS trading so far. Fannie 4.0s have held within 2 ticks of 102-24
sinc...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 1:32 PM
A senior Freddie Mac executive
suggested today that policymakers consider his company's model for securitizing
multifamily loans as they grapple wit...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 1:22 PM
The list of improving housing markets
maintained by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First
American Title Insurance Company appe...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 11:39 AM
If you've ever willingly sought and and enjoyed vanilla ice cream,
then you're already familiar with the flavor of today's bond market
rally. The...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 9:04 AM
"Are LOs liable for their comp plans?" Yes they are. This commentary discussed this topic over a month ago, yet I still hear stories about a company ...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 7:35 AM
Today we will receive long-awaited data that does more than anything
else to confirm or reject the notion of September tapering than anything
else...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 6:33 PM
Mortgage rates fell appreciably today, erasing
most of yesterday's move higher. On most any other day, this would be
welcome development, but...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 5:25 PM
Treasuries and MBS were coming off a rough day heading into this
morning's Employment Situation Report. 10yr yields hit their highest
levels and ...
Thu, Sep 5 2013, 12:56 PM
Another city has flirted briefly with
the idea of using eminent domain as a tool to help resolve a severe housing
crisis. The North Las Vegas, Ne...
