Bonds Hold On to NFP-Driven Gains Despite Some Push-Back Whether you view it as a perfectly logical reaction to NFP coming in at 175k vs 243k or a bit too much of a rally relative to the motivation, no one could argue that bond yields were destined to drop after… Read more

It was an action-packed week for the housing and mortgage market. Wednesday's Fed announcement was the highlight, but we also got several economic reports that caused rate volatility. Thankfully, it was mostly the good kind. The week got off to a slightly stronger start with Monday's only major rate news… Read more

On most months in modern economic memory, a gain of 175k payrolls would be welcome news for the labor market.  Depending on the context, it still is.  But in today's case, it's much lower than the market expected and not a high enough number to justify the 4.6+ 10yr yields… Read more

When camping here at Yosemite National Park*, you quickly realize that there is one basic product here that has never changed: nature. Mortgage products, however, are always shifting and changing. How’s your adjustable-rate mortgage offering, and training, for LOs? The ARM share of applications last week reached nearly 8 percent…. Read more

The bond market–which dictates interest rates–had a generally favorable response to yesterday's update from the Federal Reserve.  While the Fed didn't cut rates, and while they're increasingly acknowledging that rate cuts are moving farther into the future, they still think data will evolve in a way that results in the… Read more

Counterintuitive Rally And Asymmetric Risk Bonds began the day in slightly stronger territory and managed to hold the gains after the early economic data which consisted of unfriendly readings in Challenger layoffs, Jobless Claims, and Q1 Unit Labor Costs.  All three spoke to ongoing labor market strength with the latter… Read more

Thursday was always destined to be the least interesting day of current week due to its lack of meaningful calendar events, but that doesn't mean we can't see a bit of volatility for other reasons.  The morning hours have generally been good for bonds with overnight gains only briefly interrupted… Read more

Not all, but many, capital markets folks spent their college years rolling up their sleeves. Some not so much. When originators are asked about interest rates, some LOs may use the line in the clip above: “Oh, man. I only ride them; I don't know what makes them work.” (The… Read more

Decent Data and Palatable Powell Bonds managed modest to moderate gains after digesting all of the morning's economic data and events.  None of the reports were too exciting and one might conclude that traders were slightly more interested in buying bonds regardless of the data.  Yields flat-lined in stronger territory ahead… Read more

Wednesday brought a full schedule of events and data for the bond market to digest and bonds dictate day to day changes in mortgage rates.  The morning's data was perfectly palatable, resulting in modest strength heading into the afternoon's Fed announcement. Contrary to impression given by many news headlines on… Read more

Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding continued to expand at a solid pace. Job gains have remained strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated. In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward… Read more

“I named my dog ‘5 Miles’ so I can tell people I walk 5 Miles every day.” This morning, I head to Yosemite National Park for some camping, hiking, and biking. National parks receive 325 million visits a year, about 4 million of which are Yosemite’s compared to top U.S…. Read more

Rising interest rates continue to constrain mortgage borrowing. The Mortgage Bankers Association says its Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, decreased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1.4 percent compared with the previous week. The… Read more

Bonds were roughly unchanged overnight, but began to improve modestly after the ADP data.  Considering the numbers were higher than expected, that may be more of a relief bid, or even "new month" trading (8:15am is the time of the release and 8:20am is CME open that frequently sees increased… Read more

More Ammo For a Hawkish Fed, But Data is at Least as Important Bonds began the day flat but lost ground quickly after ECI came in higher than expected.  This is the latest in a string of unfriendly data for the bond market.  It proves additional ammo for the Fed… Read more