Within the recent context of the summer doldrums in bond markets, today was a bit more upbeat.  It didn't begin that way though.  After a purely flat overnight session, Treasury yields began rising into domestic hours.  Once again, 8:20am proved to be a pivotal time of day in this less liquid environment (that's when many accounts begin the trading day, in line with the CME 'pit' open).

In today's case, buyers were lined up to take advantage of the overnight drop in prices.  We know from yesterday's hefty corporate debt issuance that there were potential hedges in the market (Treasuries having been sold short as a part of the corporate issuance process) to be bought back.  In other words, a financial firm handling a corporate debt offering would sell Treasuries (or make an equivalent trade via a more exotic security) when the deal is announced.  This locks in most of the rate of return for the issuer (because the rate is usually "treasury yield + margin").  Then when the deal is priced, those Treasuries can be bought back--especially if prices are lower than when the deal was initially hedged.

There's no way to know how much of an impact this had today, but certainly, it had some.  Beyond that, there was a dearth of new issuance today after yesterday's glut.  Bottom line: the supply considerations in bond markets were much friendlier today.  Fewer bonds to be bought = higher prices.  The longer we went without any news of a big new corporate deal, the more bond prices improved.  Weakness in equities may have played a tangential role as money managers sold stocks and bough bonds.


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
99-25 : +0-10
FNMA 3.5
103-05 : +0-08
FNMA 4.0
105-31 : +0-05
Treasuries
2 YR
0.6820 : -0.0280
10 YR
2.3310 : -0.0490
30 YR
3.0670 : -0.0390
Pricing as of 7/21/15 5:23PMEST

Today's Reprice Alerts and Updates
A recap of Alerts and Updates provided to MBS Live subscribers.
10:24AM  :  Bonds Bouncing Back into NYSE Hours

MBS Live Chat Highlights
A recap of featured comments from the Live Discussion on the MBS Live Dashboard.
Dustin McAlister  :  "wow, looks like chase is pricing their jumbos on their website a lot better than they were."
Jason Anker  :  "no."
Clayton Sandy  :  "yes and yes. That's what I was thinking. Not sure though if they reaffirmed it. Doesn't that have to take place?"
Jason Anker  :  "pay history is fine? Still own house?"
Jason Zimmer  :  "get a 12 month payment history and you shouldn't have any issues"
Clayton Sandy  :  "how do you deal with a client who had a BK 4 years ago, kept paying the house, but I don't think they ever reaffirmed it. "