Very little was happening before 11:11am today. Overnight markets were calm and sideways. Treasuries and MBS began the day in unchanged territory. Even the week's first meaningful economic data had a less-than-meaningful impact on trading levels.
Then came the Ukraine/Russia headlines.
Keep in mind that any new info in the geopolitical realm today would arrive against an already tense backdrop created by an upcoming referendum on Sunday to decide whether or not Crimea should rejoin Russia. Headlines from Secretary of State Kerry added fuel to the fire, indicating a "serious series of steps" that will be taken if the referendum happens as well as contingencies in place in case Russian forces move farther into Ukraine.
Stocks began selling-off rapidly and bond yields rolling downhill just after that. MBS took part as well and both sides of the market moved away from risk (bond prices up, stock prices down), solidly until the noon hour. There was no push back against the rally--just a flattening that ultimately gave way to a bit more of a rally into the late afternoon.
MBS | FNMA 3.0 97-04 : +0-20 | FNMA 3.5 101-08 : +0-17 | FNMA 4.0 104-18 : +0-12 |
Treasuries | 2 YR 0.3380 : -0.0280 | 10 YR 2.6472 : -0.0788 | 30 YR 3.5932 : -0.0748 |
Pricing as of 3/13/14 4:26PMEST |