Look Kids, Big Ben... Again
3/25/10 Mortgage Backed Securities are minus 6bp this morning. Yesterday afternoon MBS were down as many as 81bp. That has caused rates to start to climb here today. Chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking in front of the House Financial Services Committee regarding the exit strategy for the Fed Emergency Liquidity Programs. The Chairman should stick to the script and we should expect no major revelation in his testimony.

We said yesterday that there...

Sell Off
3/24/10 Mortgage Backed Securities are minus 28bp this morning. We are seeing a sell off in bonds today. There has been no tangible reason for the sell off. I can only speculate that after a fair response to yesterday's auction that the 42 billion auction that is on tap for today is giving investors pause. It could also have to do with the time of year. Rates typically move higher going into the spring purchase season. No other high impact news is on tap for this week.
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Flat
3/23/10 Mortgage Backed Securities are plus 9bp this morning. Auction results will be released today at noon. The last few auctions have have had a favorable response. The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee is holding hearings to try and fix Fannie and Freddie. Economic data released today was inline with expectations. The Fed purchase program of MBS ends next week. The stock and bond markets are flat today.

I have listed the average monthly rate for...

No High Impact News
3/22/10 Mortgage Backed Securities are plus 6bp this morning. There is no high impact news being released this week. The Treasury will hold three auctions. Rates typically drift higher when there is no news to hold them down. I will update my commentary if warranted today.

I have listed the average monthly rate for the 30 year fixed rate mortgage for the last 6 years. You will see that rates typically move up between .375% and .50% from January to June....

The Witch is Back
3/19/10 Mortgage Backed Securities are plus 3bp this morning. Today is Quadruple Witching day. That means the contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures (SSF) all expire. With all of these contracts expiring it usually brings volatility to the market. That is something we have not seen in some time. The key will be not to panic at anything that you see or hear today and pick up on Monday. There is basketball on all day...