"...There are thousands of mortgage brokers in America that have never participated in sub-prime loans or have used any of the exotic products that Wall Street or the Mega Banks created. And most of the companies that did these loans were not mortgage brokers. You consistently use the term Mortgage Broker to relay information having to do with the Housing industry and that is not fair..."

Key Findings of HUD’s estimate:

On a single night in January 2011, HUD and its partners found:

• 636,017 people were homeless, a reduction of 2.1 percent (649,917) from January 2010, and 5.3 percent (671,888) since 2007.
• Veteran homelessness fell by nearly 12 percent (or 8,834 persons) since January 2010.
• Homelessness among individuals declined 2 percent (or 13,900) from a year ago and 5.6 percent since 2007. Meanwhile, the number of homeless families fell 2.8 percent from last year and 8 percent since 2007
• Street homelessness (“the unsheltered homeless population) declined by 13 percent (or 36,786 people) since 2007.
• Persons experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness declined 2.4 percent (or 2,664) from last year and 13.5 percent (or 16,635 persons) since 2007. This steep reduction in chronic homelessness is largely attributed to the sharp growth in the supply of permanent supportive housing units – more than 30,000 beds between 2010 and 2011, and by more than 83,000 since 2007.
• Five states accounted for half of the nation’s total homeless population: California (21.4 percent); New York (10 percent); Florida (8.9 percent); Texas (5.8 percent); and Georgia (3.3 percent).

Earlier today Victor Burek said "I think they copy/paste last statement" on the MBS Live Dashboard. Although the Fed was widely expected to leave this statement relatively unchanged, few could have guessed how accurate Victor's prediction would be. This was the LEAST changed FOMC statement we can remember seeing. Even some parts that seemed new were thinly-veiled rewordings. Case in point, what once was:

"there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets. "

Now becomes:

"Strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. "

Well played FOMC! Heaven forbid you actually don't change the darn thing at all. At least this way, folks who only glance at the shapes of the letters will see some in different places and assume that changes have been made.

But it wasn't long until such folks got calls from their more meticulous friends and learned that nothing really changed. Thus, time to sell stocks, and give bond markets the "all clear!" As far as 10yr yields are concerned, this seems to be taking shape as a test of the mid 1.9's, with 1.95 being a relatively cliche technical target.

But the level that 10's ultimately achieve this afternoon is of little consequence to a much-relieved and newly liquid MBS market (class A settlement over and done-with) that is simply soaring either way. Positive reprices are as likely as they've been all day (among lenders who haven't repriced already).

The results of the 10yr auction that just came across were close absolutely astounding. Not only was the bid-to-cover an eye-watering 3.53 percent (cursory glance says that's the highest since 4/2010 came in at 3.72), but the high yield stopped through over 2 bps lower than the pre-release "when-issued" yield (when-issued, or "WI," can be thought of as the running estimate of where the auction yield will stop).

The fact that 10's have already moved under 2.00% even BEFORE the 2:15pm FOMC Announcement is a testament to just how strong this auction is. Positive reprices remain possible as Fannie 3.5's are now up 5 ticks on the day at 102-07. 10yr yields are now testing 1.98 resistance....

For the first time today, the whole MBS stack is in the green versus yesterday's 5pm levels. Although rate sheet improvements aren't really justified based on the outright gains in price (the range is incredibly narrow) and although there are a few risky events ahead in the afternoon, the simple fact that Fannie 3.5's aren't "in the 101's and falling" could be enough for a token reprice from a very small fraction of lenders. Most would be more comfortable getting on board under at least one, but preferably all of the following conditions:

- further MBS price improvements
- 10yr Auction leaves prices above 102-00
- FOMC Announcement does same