Markets were confused by today's jobs data--at least bond markets were.  The 151k vs 190k miss on headline NFP was ostensibly offset by the improvement in wage growth and the lower unemployment rate.  Normally the unemployment rate could be explained-away by falling labor force participation, but not this month.  Combine that with the relatively shallow miss (39k seems like a lot, but it's actually quite small in terms of the average NFP beat/miss), and there were plenty of reasons for indecisiveness.

equities markets were more decisive and they set their course lower right out of the gate.  So wait... both stocks and bonds sold off because the data had some redeeming qualities?  There must be something more to the story--some reason for the general notion of "economic positivity" to hurt stocks.

Indeed, stocks honed right in on the important implication of the data: Fed policy.  Granted, there really wasn't much implication to begin with, but to whatever extent the economic data will inform Fed policy, wage growth is something they've been wanting to see.  Fed funds futures confirmed the increased odds of another rate hike.  Bond markets made the logical curve trades with shorter term yields losing ground (more negatively affected by Fed rate) and longer term yields gaining ground (more positively affected by the economic fallout created by tighter Fed policy).


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 3.5
104-24 : +0-01
Treasuries
10 YR
1.8430 : -0.0210
Pricing as of 2/5/16 5:53PMEST

Today's Reprice Alerts and Updates
A recap of Alerts and Updates provided to MBS Live subscribers.
8:54AM  :  Bond markets now choosing the red path
8:38AM  :  Bonds Trying to Make up Mind After NFP.

MBS Live Chat Highlights
A recap of featured comments from the Live Discussion on the MBS Live Dashboard.
Timothy Baron  :  "Good to see that SV. Looks like we'll take another shot at breaking 1.84 next week."
Scott Valins  :  "impressive day for bonds to come back down to lowest levels"
Timothy Baron  :  "Happy Friday!"
Jason Anker  :  "someone please go invent another internet or something"
Caroline Roy  :  "Thanks TB, that is uplifting:)"
Jason Anker  :  "should be able to do that but the contracts need to be well written"
Clayton Sandy  :  "one is. The other was paid off when the builder took title"
Ryan P Kelly  :  "CS as long as they assign a value to the lot and the home isn't built in less than 90 days I don't see any issues"
Caroline Roy  :  "is it owned free and clear?"
Jason Anker  :  "good one CS"
Clayton Sandy  :  "anyone have some experience with a borrower deeding a lot over to a builder and then treating it as a purchase when the home is complete and using the appraised value of the lot? I have two borrowers who have owned the lot for a few years and I want to make sure we can give them the best value for it."