By Matthew Graham Posted To: MBS Commentary I have to stretch to make a day like today interesting. As I’m fond of doing, I could easily label this one of those unofficial 3-day weekend type of Mondays. That description still works as 10yr yields were only 2bps higher and Fannie 4.0 MBS lost less than an eighth of a point. …

By Matthew Graham Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates held their ground fairly well today, despite the fact that underlying bond markets were weaker. Bond market weakness is associated with higher interest rates, all other things being equal. To understand this, consider that a bond is essentially a loan. An investor who buys a bond is buying the right …

By Matthew Graham Posted To: MBS Commentary The two key fiscal issues at the moment are the trade deal with China and the expiration of temporary government funding at the end of this week. Between those two, the trade deal is by far and away the bigger deal for markets. The shutdown is still important, however, due to its impact …

By Rob Chrisman Posted To: Pipeline Press When I grow up, I want to live…next to the airport? Usually, airports are there before people move in around them, and then the residents all complain about the noise despite the airport already being there: Not in my backyard! But in some areas land is scarce, and there are big projects going …

By Matthew Graham Posted To: MBS Commentary The bond market is exuding a sort of confidence we’ve not seen in a long time. I’m not saying that because outright rate levels are lower than they’ve been in more than a year. Rather, I’m saying it because bonds have been content to hold inside a very narrow range near those lows. …

By Matthew Graham Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rate may not be quite as low as they were on January 31st, but they nonetheless managed to end at the lowest levels of this week . Unlike January 31st, we can still say we’re at the lowest levels in more than a year (yesterday was the first official day for …

By Jann Swanson Posted To: MND NewsWire The second proposal for reform of the housing finance system in a week was just introduced by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Their “vision” for reform is centered on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs). The future of the two companies, in federal conservatorship since 2008, barely got a mention in …

By Matthew Graham Posted To: MBS Commentary Whereas “moving the goalposts” has a negative connotation in general (referring to the changing of the rules in the middle of the game), it’s a fairly common theme in the realm of technical analysis. That seems horribly counterintuitive at first glance because technical analysis is all about using objective data to draw conclusions …