It's been a pleasantly resilient day for MBS and Treasuries so far.  After a completely uneventful overnight session, both opened just slightly weaker.  Jobless Claims were stronger than expected, but bond markets improved anyway.  Incidentally, German Bunds were just falling under 1.0% again at the same time.

The 10am economic data was also better than expected with Existing Home Sales coming in at 5.15 mln vs a 5.02 mln forecast and the Philly Fed Index at 28.0 vs 19.2.  This put an immediate crimp in the rally that had been underway, but there has been no major retreat back into weaker levels.  In fact, both MBS and Treasuries are still in positive territory and 10yr yields are just .007% off their best levels.

What's up with that?  As always, there's no ONE reason, and neither can we know the most relevant reason, but here are the contenders.  For starters, the Philly Fed data was much worse than the headline indicated.  Most of the internal components were weaker than they were previously with the 6-month outlook being one of the only exceptions.  Beyond that, the European market influence remains as the British 10yr (in focus this week more than most) has been on a tear since 6am, leading the charge for Germany and the US.


MBS Pricing Snapshot
Pricing shown below is delayed, please note the timestamp at the bottom. Real time pricing is available via MBS Live.
MBS
FNMA 3.0
98-23 : +0-02
FNMA 3.5
102-13 : +0-02
FNMA 4.0
105-19 : +0-02
Treasuries
2 YR
0.4680 : -0.0040
10 YR
2.4230 : -0.0050
30 YR
3.2090 : -0.0120
Pricing as of 8/21/14 11:17AMEST

Morning Reprice Alerts and Updates
A recap of Alerts and Updates provided to MBS Live subscribers.
9:36AM  :  Bond Markets Turn Green Despite Stronger Claims Data

Live Chat Featured Comments
A recap of featured comments from the Live Discussion on the MBS Live Dashboard.
Matthew Graham  :  "RTRS- PHILADELPHIA FED BUSINESS CONDITIONS AUGUST 28.0 (CONSENSUS 19.2) VS JULY 23.9"
Matthew Graham  :  "RTRS- US JULY EXISTING HOME SALES +2.4 PCT VS JUNE +2.4 PCT (PREV +2.6 PCT)-NAR"
Matthew Graham  :  "RTRS - - US JULY EXISTING HOME SALES 5.15 MLN UNIT ANNUAL RATE, HIGHEST SINCE SEPT 2013 (CONSENSUS 5.02 MLN), VS JUNE 5.03 MLN (PREV 5.04 MLN)-NAR"
Victor Burek  :  "bofa to pay $16.65b to settle with govt...ouch"
Matthew Graham  :  "It was certainly more hawkish than the announcement suggested, but not alarmingly so."
Jeff Anderson  :  "GM, all. How hawkish did we think the Fed was yesterday? Just trying to catch up here. Or was it more an As Expected meeting?"
Matthew Graham  :  "RTRS- US JOBLESS CLAIMS FELL TO 298,000 AUG 16 WEEK (CONSENSUS 300,000) FROM 312,000 PRIOR WEEK (PREVIOUS 311,000)"