My Mind on Mortgages

Mortgage rates are starting the day priced modestly worse from yesterday.
Mortgage-backed bonds (MBS’s) got off to a bad start this morning trading lower on a better than expected retail sales report.  The Commerce Department’s monthly report on retail sales showed that they increased in the month of February by .3%.  Analysts had been expecting a [...]

Mortgage rates are mostly unchanged this morning.
The bond market is bracing for today’s $13 billion 30-yr bond auction by the US Treasury.  Both the 3-yr and 10-yr auctions drew strong demand earlier in the week but the longer duration of this issue has analysts concerned that there won’t be sufficient demand.  If their trepidation comes [...]

Mortgage rates reversed modestly higher this morning.
Mortgage rates are being pressured higher this morning in response to a higher open for stocks.  Stocks and bonds compete for the same investment dollar so when the equity markets rally it is often at the expense of bonds.
The US Treasury is set to deliver $21 billion in 10-year [...]

Mortgage rates are priced slightly better this morning.
I noted in yesterday’s rate update that public support for Greece’s austerity plan pressured rates higher because of an unwinding in the “flight-to-quality” trade.  However, this morning that trade is gaining traction due to a surprise announcement by Fitch Ratings Service in which they raised concern over Portugal [...]

Mortgage rates are unchanged from Friday.
Over the weekend French President Nicholas Sarkozy publicly voiced France’s support for Greece as it tries to navigate its way out of the financial mess they find themselves in.  His support is likely to take some more wind out of the “flight-to-quality” trade which has helped mortgage rates over the [...]

Mortgage rates are slightly worse this morning.
This morning’s all important jobs report was better than expected (click HERE to learn why this report is so impactful).  The markets were bracing for weak jobs numbers due to poor weather last month but the report indicated that only 36,000 jobs were lost in the month February.  The [...]

Last September I wrote this article for my newsletter in which I introduced my readers to the Irving Fisher’s equation of exchange which reads MV=PT where M= money supply, V= velocity of money, P=price level, and T= quantity of goods and services transacted (real Gross Domestic Product [GDP]).
The thesis of the article was [...]

Pricing on mortgage rates improved modestly yesterday afternoon.
Blackrock Inc., the world’s largest money-management firm, announced yesterday that they would be increasing their asset allocation of US Treasuries in their client’s portfolios due to an uncertain economic outlook.  This is a perfect example of a “flight-to-quality” trade where investors purchase relatively “safe” US Treasuries because other [...]

Most mortgage rates are effectively unchanged from yesterday.
Greece unveiled their plan to cut its budget deficit today.  For the first time they included credible details which should help reduce fears about default on their bonds.  Greek officials will meet with EU leaders this weekend to gain support for the plan.  This news is likely to [...]

Most mortgage rates are unchanged this morning.
The ongoing Soap Opera that is the Greek fiscal crisis will take another turn tomorrow when it releases its latest version of a plan to shore up its finances.  Should the plan calm investors’ nerves then we are likely to see the “flight-to-quality” trade unwind which would pressure mortgage [...]