Tue, Jun 15 2021, 9:00 AM
On weeks that close out with the big jobs report, an inordinate amount of headlines include a reference to the impending data. The same is true with ...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 4:19 PM
New Week, New Sense of Urgency
The new week wasted no time in differentiating itself from the previous week ...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 10:44 AM
Elaine F. reminded me of a quote from Hemingway: “Never mistake motion for action.” And basketball coach John Wooden said, “Never mistake action for a...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 9:20 AM
Last week was relatively impressive and perhaps somewhat surprising in terms of bonds' ability to rally in the absence of overt fundamental motivation...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 6:21 PM
No, this isn't one of those click-bait headlines that promise to share "one weird trick" or proclaim "you'll never believe what happened next." Well, ...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 3:55 PM
Bonds Circle Weekend Wagons as Fed Day Looms
This week was a bit of a barn burner for the bond market with 1...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 11:14 AM
Friday: time for some random non-mortgage stuff. Everyone knows that if you lose one sense, your other senses become enhanced. Which is why people wit...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 9:43 AM
Slightly weaker?! How could we say such things when the MBS chart looks like this:
Don't worry. This isn't exactly "real" due to the roll. The...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 8:42 AM
It is hardly a surprise given the rapid increase in home prices, but homeowners gained another $1.9 trillion in equity in the first quarter of this ye...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 8:40 AM
Redfin says the second home market appears to be cooling although annual sales, measured by mortgage rate locks, were up nationwide by 48 percent in M...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 4:00 PM
Best Levels in Months After Much Higher CPI Data (No, Really!)
If you'd told someone that core annual CPI wo...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 10:04 AM
If you'd told someone that core annual CPI would come in 0.4% higher than expected at a staggering 3.8%, but that Treasuries would only sell-off a few...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 10:02 AM
With plenty of in-person mortgage events slated for the remainder of 2021, it is good that human brains are specialized for facial recognition and tha...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 3:51 PM
Strong 10yr Auction Reinforces Friendly Trend
Bonds charged into the domestic session making surprisingly sw...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 2:40 PM
The bond market is the main ingredient that lenders use to determine lending rates. The mortgage market is no exception . In fact, mortgages have spec...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 11:34 AM
I hope that Google never shuts down. I know six, maybe seven, things. I know that the President’s plane was delayed seven hours this morning due to ci...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 10:37 AM
In the past 48 hours, bonds have entered into one of those interesting rally patterns marked by a striking absence of conventional motivations. That ...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 8:20 AM
Mortgage application activity slowed further during the week ended June 4, a short business week due to Monday's Memorial Day holiday. The impact of t...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 4:07 PM
Fannie Mae announced a new refinance program “RefiNow”, effective June 5th , designed to provide greater loan flexibilities for low income borrowers, ...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates haven't been in the habit of making epic swings recently. That's not a bad thing considering they continue to operate in very low terri...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 3:53 PM
Snowball Rally Reinforces Post-Payrolls Opportunities
Last week's jobs report created an opportunity to ride...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 11:49 AM
The nation's mortgage delinquency rate is inching closer to its pre-pandemic level as early stage delinquencies improve. CoreLogic says that in March ...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 11:47 AM
After years of opening mail I’ve come to the conclusion that, when stamped on an envelope in the U.S. mail, “personal and confidential” usually isn’t,...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 10:24 AM
A short squeeze occurs when bond yields fall to levels that force short sellers to cover their positions (read more here, if that didn't make sense), ...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 4:25 PM
Sideways to Start The Week, But That's Still a Victory
Last Friday's jobs report sparked a reasonably big bo...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:57 PM
April price gains may have set a record for setting records and Black Knight, in its Mortgage Monitor for the month, runs them down. The annual rate o...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:47 PM
While consumers' comfort with their financial situation appears to be improving, their pessimism about homebuying is also growing. Fannie Mae says whi...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:43 PM
The share of refinances originated during a month dropped below 60 percent in April for the first time since September 2020. ICE Mortgage Technology, ...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 10:54 AM
Time is flying, and the months click by. We’re approaching the Summer Solstice. (Here in Sitka, AK, the official sunrise is around 4AM and it sets aro...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 9:37 AM
Summertime Mondays--especially those without any significant calendar events--have a tendency to be lighter than normal in terms of volume and volatil...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 3:05 PM
Locking vs Floating After Today's Jobs Report
NFP missed the mark and bonds ultimately rallied today. That ...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 10:22 AM
A while back I made an appointment at a new doctor and under, “What do you wish to be called?” I wrote, “The Chosen One.” Wednesday, I heard the recep...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 9:45 AM
The reaction has been back-and-forth in a very narrow range, but with very typical volume for NFP (in other words, traders are clearly trading... they...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 8:45 AM
It wasn't a complete record setter, but mortgage bankers still established a few same quarter and other new highs as they kicked off the year with ano...
Thu, Jun 3 2021, 4:36 PM
Have We Mentioned The Jobs Report?
It seems that there's been more build-up than normal ahead of this month'...
Thu, Jun 3 2021, 10:52 AM
Here’s your pro tip of the day: occasionally blow on the wine in your coffee mug to convince the rest of the Zoom meeting that it is tea. Speaking of ...
Thu, Jun 3 2021, 9:48 AM
A clear theme has emerged this morning. The day's early jobs-related reports have all come out noticeably stronger (technically Challenger Layoffs in...
Thu, Jun 3 2021, 8:11 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau has released pieces of its 2020 report, Characteristics of New Housing. This is a massive annual compilation of data on what bu...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 4:14 PM
In week-over-week terms, mortgage rates are modestly higher this afternoon compared to last Wednesday. In the slightly bigger picture, however, rates ...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 4:00 PM
Sideways and Still Waiting on Friday's Jobs Report
Today's trading lived up to the sideways promises discuss...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 1:44 PM
While many workers plan, at least according to recent surveys, to continue spending at least part of each week working from home, a shorter commute st...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 10:47 AM
Real estate agents will tell you that offering above asking price is only the first step, with many buyers also waiving contingencies, skipping inspec...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 9:23 AM
The spring of 2021 has been marked by a sideways consolidation that alternates between being "a sure thing" and "surely about to end. By mid April, b...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 3:31 PM
Bonds a Bit Nervous as Big Data Week Begins
If there was ever a time when economic data was inconsequential ...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 12:41 PM
Construction spending inched up in April, but the increase was tempered by a decline in publicly funded projects. The U.S. Census Bureau put the rate ...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 11:12 AM
CoreLogic says that April saw further acceleration in the growth of housing prices. The company, which reported an 11.3 percent annual increase in hou...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 10:56 AM
June, already. Plans to return to the office? The Mortgage Bankers Association, for example, is gearing up for a July 12 return. And you can bet it’s ...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 9:24 AM
The new, holiday-shortened week begins with a good amount of weakness versus Friday's latest levels. Nonetheless, yields are right in the middle of t...
Fri, May 28 2021, 3:03 PM
Decent Gains Despite Hotter Inflation Data
While there was nothing especially memorable about today's tradin...
Fri, May 28 2021, 10:31 AM
Traffic is already bad out there! Here’s a sign on a beekeeper’s truck: “If you see me running, things have gone poorly, and you should run too.” Life...
