Mon, Apr 17 2017, 4:57 PM
Today was destined to be a lower-volume session simply because it's the Monday after Good Friday. That means many US market participants are still ou...
Mon, Apr 17 2017, 3:47 PM
For the third day in a row, mortgage rates set new 2017 lows this morning. But as bond markets weakened into the afternoon, several lenders recalled r...
Thu, Apr 13 2017, 12:07 PM
Mortgage rates set new 2017 lows for the third straight day today, although only in terms of "effective rates" (which take upfront costs into account)...
Thu, Apr 13 2017, 8:44 AM
This holiday-shortened 3.5-day trading week has quickly become a brave new world for bond markets. Actually, it might be better characterized as a ...
Thu, Apr 13 2017, 4:07 PM
Heading into Good Friday weekend, it's not uncommon for bond markets to retrace whatever the trend happens to be earlier in the week. In other words,...
Wed, Apr 12 2017, 9:07 AM
Yesterday, it became increasingly clear in the middle of the trading session that bond markets were responding to the "risk-off" trading motivations...
Wed, Apr 12 2017, 6:47 PM
Friday was exciting for a short while. Following the weaker-than-expected NFP, 10yr yields briefly broke below 2.27--emphasis on "brief." Friday qui...
Wed, Apr 12 2017, 5:20 PM
Mortgage rates continued lower today, bringing them even deeper into new lows for 2017. Bond markets (which underlie rate movement) were already doing...
Tue, Apr 11 2017, 9:01 AM
(NOTE: If you're subscribed to receive MBS Commentary emails, you will have received last Friday's Recap in error this morning. Sorry for the confusi...
Tue, Apr 11 2017, 8:14 AM
As the headline suggests, NFP (the "nonfarm payrolls" component of the big jobs report) was much weaker than expected today (98k vs 180k forecast). O...
Tue, Apr 11 2017, 4:30 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower today--significantly in some cases--with the average lender making it back to 2017's lows for the first time since January....
Mon, Apr 10 2017, 8:58 AM
The 2nd week of April begins with bonds threatening to embark on another bounce inside the post-election trading range (10yr yields from 2.30-2.64, ...
Mon, Apr 10 2017, 5:32 PM
On a positive note, bonds were slightly stronger today and yields held just barely below a technical level that has been more of floor than a ceilin...
Mon, Apr 10 2017, 4:09 PM
Mortgage rates rose slightly again today, despite moderate improvement in underlying bond markets. Typically, bond market improvement corresponds to l...
Fri, Apr 7 2017, 8:22 AM
Cue the "all eyes" headlines that seem to pop up on NFP day, a la "All Eyes on NFP." Well, this certainly used to be true. It will probably be tru...
Fri, Apr 7 2017, 5:40 PM
Mortgage rates rose modestly today, compared to yesterday's latest levels. Compared to the morning's rate sheets however, the rise was sharper, but ev...
Thu, Apr 6 2017, 9:17 AM
The day begins with a similar pattern shaping up to that seen in late March when the healthcare bill drama was highest. Said drama translated to th...
Thu, Apr 6 2017, 5:16 PM
Bonds continue grinding it out in an exceptionally horizontal sort of direction! If you saw the best and the worst of trading levels on Monday, you'v...
Thu, Apr 6 2017, 4:45 PM
Mortgage rates remained largely unchanged today, on average. Once again, there was a fair amount of volatility in bond markets (which dictate rates) d...
Wed, Apr 5 2017, 8:51 AM
Heading into the end of March, markets were generally preoccupied with the healthcare drama in congress and bond yields were generally consolidating i...
Wed, Apr 5 2017, 4:42 PM
Mortgage rates were noticeably higher to begin the day, but most lenders offered mid-day improvements after the release of the hotly-anticipated Fed M...
Wed, Apr 5 2017, 4:40 PM
Coming into today, we had two key options as far as potential market movers were concerned: economic data and the Fed Minutes. On the data front, ADP...
Tue, Apr 4 2017, 8:55 AM
Yesterday's bond market activity suggested that traders definitely had some sort of agenda that went beyond a mere punching of the clock. Even with C...
Tue, Apr 4 2017, 5:40 PM
Coming off of yesterday's excellent performance, today's bond market selling-spree felt jarring --probably more jarring than it actually was. Right ...
Tue, Apr 4 2017, 5:02 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly lower today, even though bond market movement suggested a move higher. That's interesting because mortgage rate...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 9:26 AM
Remember March 15th's Fed Announcement? That was the one where the entire free world was utterly and completely convinced that the Fed would hike s...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 5:37 PM
From an analytical standpoint, today's trading session was not well-behaved or easy to assess (I saw several iterations of "no one has any idea what...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 4:58 PM
Mortgage rates fell fairly quickly today as investors adjusted bond market holdings for the new month (higher demand for bonds coincides with lower ra...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 9:07 AM
While there are several economic reports that have market-moving power today, the bigger issue for bond markets may be the technical battle that's b...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 4:59 PM
Mortgage rate were unchanged to slightly lower today. Once again, the actual change you see will depend heavily on the lender in question. Most are fa...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 4:56 PM
Month/Quarter-end bond buying was nowhere to be seen until today. It can provide a mild but determined positive trend in bond markets that transcends...
Thu, Mar 30 2017, 9:32 AM
With 10yr yields having made it close to 2017's lower range in the most recent rally, the burden of proof is on bond bulls to come up with j ustificat...
Thu, Mar 30 2017, 6:02 PM
For all of the apparent drama and volatility experienced during the past 2 weeks, it's easy to overlook just how narrow the range has been. There's ...
Thu, Mar 30 2017, 5:20 PM
For the third day in a row, day-over-day mortgage rate movement depends heavily on the lender. That means some lenders will be in noticeably better sh...
Wed, Mar 29 2017, 8:46 AM
We characterized yesterday's bond market weakness as a simple and somewhat logical correction. The initial move was Monday morning's rally that was...
Wed, Mar 29 2017, 5:59 PM
There have been two back-to-back "unwind" trades in bond markets. The stage was set by Monday morning's rally which was in response to an absence o...
Wed, Mar 29 2017, 2:00 PM
Compared to yesterday, today's mortgage rates are a moving target depending on the lender. Some are better. Some are worse. On average, rates are unch...
Tue, Mar 28 2017, 8:47 AM
Today brings the week's first major economic data with 10am Consumer Confidence serving as the headliner. Before that, we'll get an update on home ...
Tue, Mar 28 2017, 7:51 PM
Just when you thought you'd seen the last of the healthcare bill drama , it comes roaring back. Well, at least it felt like a roar. In retrospect, ...
Tue, Mar 28 2017, 2:06 PM
Just one day after hitting the lowest levels in more than a month, mortgage rates bounced higher today. For all intents and purposes, rates fell on Mo...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 10:08 AM
The biggest questions for Monday comes from financial markets and is directed towards politicians in Washington. Are we done obsessing over the healt...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 7:07 PM
Today could have gone two ways. We could have come to find out that Friday's "delay" in the vote on the healthcare bill was an actual delay, or we ...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 6:41 PM
Mortgage rates improved today, hitting the lowest levels in more than a month. Bond markets (which underlie mortgage rates) generally improved last we...
Fri, Mar 24 2017, 9:47 AM
The healthcare bill is all anyone can talk about (here's one recent article from Reuters). We rarely see such an abrupt coalescence of market focus...
Fri, Mar 24 2017, 4:37 PM
More than a few bond bulls out there (those are folks who want rates to go lower!) were eager for the vote to take place on the healthcare bill that...
Fri, Mar 24 2017, 3:22 PM
While some lenders were slightly better or worse versus yesterday, mortgage rates were unchanged on average today. This isn't much of surprise conside...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 7:46 AM
In the post-apocalyptic hell (relative) that is the post-election bond market trading environment, there was a noble group of traders who attempted to...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 6:17 PM
Rarely has something so "off the radar" become such a focal point for financial markets as this week's vote on a healthcare revamp to replace the Aff...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 4:06 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher for the first time in 8 days as markets braced for the impact of political developments. The big issue of the day ...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 9:23 AM
Things are getting exciting for markets, and not simply because bond yields have returned to the core of their prevailing range for 2017 just after al...
