Wed, Mar 17 2010, 8:02 AM
Despite yesterday’s news that housing starts fell nearly 6% in February, stock markets managed to move upwards yesterday and this morning that upward ...
Wed, Mar 17 2010, 5:37 PM
Wed, Mar 17 2010, 3:51 PM
Wed, Mar 17 2010, 3:24 PM
We are seeing very aggressive rate sheets from lenders today. My advice would be to lock any loan closing and funding in the next 30 days. Same excep...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 12:09 PM
Those parties who have so far weighed in with reactions to the financial reform legislation proposed by Senator Dodd have pretty much said what they m...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 11:16 AM
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 10:49 AM
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Bear Stearns collapse, Senator Christopher Dodd released a bill designed to reform much of the financial s...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 10:20 AM
Fed Doves & Hawks Defined; More on USDA; ResCap & Goldman; Rent vs. Buy; Refinancing Government Debt
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 8:48 AM
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 8:11 AM
The dollar is weaker and equities look to open higher as investors await the afternoon policy statement from the Federal Reserve Board.
Two hours b...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 5:36 PM
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 5:05 PM
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met for a one day meeting today. Usually they meet for two. At 2:15, the FOMC released their statement on mon...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 3:57 PM
Bottom line, arguments were a bit skewed in favor of floating yesterday, whereas they are more balanced today. However, this factors in some trending...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 3:47 PM
I have probably drafted around 15 different articles for a Community Commentary since the beginning of the year, but chose not to post them because fo...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 2:15 PM
The Fed's feelings on the labor market have improved since the last meeting while housing remains uncomfortably depressed. The MBS purchase program is...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 1:21 PM
There is a saying in the business world that “you raise money when you don’t need it”. With the many changes in the industry, there have become many ...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 11:07 AM
There just isnt enough participation in the rates marketplace to push the 10yr contract through the above discussed layer of "position resistance". B...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 11:04 AM
FDIC Selling Mortgage Assets of Failed Banks; "Good" Foreclosure Stats; Updates from: Chase, WAMU, USB, Wells, FAMC,SunTrust
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 8:22 AM
Until 10s make a move, the FN 4.5 will likely hold to the recent range with 101-00 seen as a psychological profit taking point while 100-24 serves as ...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 8:01 AM
Equity markets are mostly lower across the globe Monday, leading US stocks to open sharply lower ahead of a moderately busy schedule.
Two hours bef...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 6:24 PM
After a slow week of economic data, the calendar picks up in the days ahead.If you followed my advice on floating over the weekend, you picked up some...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 5:33 PM
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 4:33 PM
Let’s pretend you’re a bank and you’re funding mortgages today with Fed Funds. Fed Funds will cost you 16 bps, and let’s say you’re closing 5% loans....
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 4:10 PM
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 3:17 PM
In March, Builder confidence lost the small amount of progress seen in February, falling two points to 15 where the index sat in January. The NAHB c...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 2:40 PM
Treasury and HUD are reporting that the number of homeowners who have converted to a permanent loan modification status under the Making Home Affordab...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 2:35 PM
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 12:51 PM
Fitch Ratings is warning that the expiring homebuyer tax credits, the end of the Fed's MBS Purchase Program, and the growing maturity of various gover...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 12:04 PM
Every year USDA runs out of money for their fundings and normally you are not affected by this however, this year is very different. The USDA Section ...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 10:43 AM
If you want to sell Freddie Mac an interest only loan, the application must be dated prior to June 13, 2010 and you better get LP approval before then...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 9:46 AM
In the week ending March 10, 2010, the Federal Reserve purchased a gross total of $29.4 billion agency MBS. In that week the Fed sold $19.4 billion m...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 9:42 AM
Loan Officers Who Sell Real Estate; Wells Expands Market Making in Mortgage-Backeds; FDIC Acts on a Thursday; Freddie Mac Bulletin
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 9:20 AM
Retail Sales data has hit screens. It was much better than expected. Rates no likely.
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 8:06 AM
Equities are higher and the dollar is weaker following positive data from Europe and ahead of key retail sales numbers at home.
More than two hours...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 7:40 AM
After four days of a limited data, which made it easy for traders to bake in a concessionary backup in TSY yields, the week's most important econ even...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 6:47 PM
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 4:20 PM
Following the release of the Retail Sales report, benchmark yields rose and MBS prices plummeted. Many lenders released rate sheets at the lows of the...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 3:51 PM
Top performing mortgage bankers made 90-100 bps per loan. That means, for every $100 million you closed, you should have (and could have) earned $900...
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 2:50 PM
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 12:48 PM
A portmanteau means a blend of two or more words and their meanings into one new word. An example is the word brunch meaning breakfast +lunch. Anoth...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 11:37 AM
Considering the extent to which concessionary 2s/30s steepening has taken place over the past week..it would make sense for the steepener to reverse c...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 10:56 AM
Lenders Relaxing Non-Agency ARM Regs; High Cost Loan Reporting Guidance; Negative Convexity Defined; New Mortgagee Letter; MGIC Update
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 8:52 AM
In a speculative manner, it appears rates traders are looking for an opportunity to push TSY prices higher (yields lower) as the long end of the yield...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 8:21 AM
Speculation that China may have to tighten its economic policy is pulling investor sentiment lower this morning. Amid positive data on industrial prod...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 6:05 PM
Tomorrow morning we get the Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment and Business Inventories. Of the three, the Retail Sales report has the highest potentia...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 5:25 PM
Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions declined 2 percent from January. A total of 308,524 pro...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 5:24 PM
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 3:37 PM
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 2:40 PM
FHA Commissioner David Stevens is scheduled to tell a House Subcommittee this afternoon that raising the required minimum down payment of an FHA mortg...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 1:09 PM
The previously discussed auction concession must have been sufficient because the long bond auction went very well. Overall, auction demand was well a...
