September First
9/1/09 Mortgage Backed Securities are -9bp this morning. September has historically been the worst month for stocks. Marketwatch has put together trading stratagies for Septembet that I have included at the bottom of the page. The ISM report was released and came in higher than expected. Pending home sales were also higher according to the National Association of Realtors. The key to this data is that it was because of government intervention that the numbers were higher....

The Shanghai Gets Routed
8/31/09 Mortgage Backed Securities are plus 6bp this morning. The Chinese stock market lost 6.7% overnight. That is one of the biggest one day losses in Chinese history and brings the losses to 23% for the month of August. A recent analyst said that there is typically a 2 week lag between the Chinese markets and the US markets. Bad news for the stock markets, good news for rates.

Here is a list of high impact data being released: Monday Chicago PMI,...

I have had this question come up a lot lately and thought I would address it here on my blog. The short answer is of course no but it really depends on what you consider "rural". Today I will examine what the Wisconsin USDA Rural Housing program is all about.
First, let's differentiate between the two USDA Rural Housing programs.

Guaranteed Rural Housing Program

Direct Rural Housing Program

We will be discussing...

A Great Deal of Pomp and No Substance
8/28/09 Mortgage Backed Securities are - 3bp this morning. I have watched and read analysts opinions all this week. They keep talking about how high the markets are going to go when they rally. This week we have seen a very tight range of trading in all markets. I think they may be full of hot air. We have a very event packed week to start September. The picture moving forward I think will be painted by next Friday.

Here is a list of high...

September is on the Horizon
8/27/09 Mortgage Backed Securities are - 6bp this morning. Stock markets are trading in the red and bond markets are not fairing much better. Fed Governer Lacker says we may not need all 1.25 trillion in MBS purchases moving forward. The Fed has currently purchased over 750 billion in MBS. We find a shift in policy hard to believe as foreclosures are expected to rise. The buyers credit is set to expire in November unless it is extended. There are hints that the...