ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2009
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Next week, the important Employment report will come out on Friday. As usual, this data on the number of jobs, the Unemployment Rate, and wage inflation will be the most highly anticipated economic data of the month. Early estimates are for a loss of about 550K jobs in May. Before the Employment ...
05/29/2009
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As the pressure for higher mortgage rates has increased in recent weeks, investors have speculated that the Fed would step in to "defend" certain interest rate levels, but that hasn't happened. This week, Fed officials explained that their mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchases are designed t...
05/29/2009
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MBS prices are up 43/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.0 at 98.53), far above the initial price level at +8/32. Investors had a change of heart and decided that the selloff earlier in the week was overdone. Fed officials explained that MBS and Treasury purchases are designed to support credit markets and not to ...
05/29/2009
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MBS prices are up +11/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.0 at 97.19), below the initial price level at +13/32 but above the low of -8/32. Unfavorable repricing took place, but MBS prices rocketed higher late in the day. It was an extremely volatile session, as investors debated whether MBS are a good value at cur...
05/28/2009
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MBS prices are down -66/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.5 at 96.84). Way, way, way below the initial price level at -5/32, and near the low for the day. Unfavorable repricing took place more than once. Everyone found a reason to sell MBS today, and most of them were variations on the same big-picture theme. Qui...
05/27/2009
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MBS prices are down -16/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.0 at 98.91), below the initial price level at +2/32, and at the low for the day. Prices continue to drop in after hours movement and everyone is repricing! MBS markets moved lower after May Confidence rose to the highest level in eight months. The index c...
05/26/2009
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Next week, there will be Treasury auctions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales will come out on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Durable Orders, an important indicator of economic activity, will be released on Thursday. The Chicago PMI national manufac...
05/22/2009
While weaker than expected economic data pushed mortgage rates lower last week, concerns about the coming supply of debt needed to pay for government programs moved mortgage rates higher this week, leaving rates nearly unchanged over the past two weeks. This week, the economic data had little im...
05/22/2009
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MBS prices are down -4/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.0 at 99.41), at the initial price level at -4/32. After an early decline, it was a quiet session. No economic data came out today. The Dow is up 50 points. For the week, MBS prices fell about -21/32. MBS markets closed early at 2:00 et and will be closed on...
05/22/2009
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MBS prices are down -21/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.0 at 99.53), far below the initial price level at +1/32. MBS prices reached a low of -19/32. Unfavorable repricing took place a couple of times today. Today's economic data had little impact, but investors sold bonds for a variety of other reasons. Yester...
05/21/2009