Bonds Recovering a Bit After "Framework of a Deal" on Greenland Geopolitics have been front and center for financial markets over the past 2 days with both stocks and bonds taking clear cues from newswires pertaining to tariff brinksmanship, trade deal […]

Markets held more sideways overnight as traders awaited further geopolitical developments today surrounding Greenland. Both stocks and bonds lost ground yesterday on the threat of additional tariffs (and counter-tariffs) as well as decreased participation in the US bond market from foreign wealth […]

With mortgage rates right where they were 2 weeks ago, things could be worse. But after rising 20bps from last week's lows, things could also certainly be better.  A vast majority of recent volatility was seen at the start of the holiday-shortened week yesterday with a move that left no doubt as […]

Range Breakout Intensifies. Chicken or Egg? After months spent observing the same old range in the bond market, we're finally in the throes of a confirmed breakout. Unfortunately, the breakout has seen 10yr yields surge almost 10bps above the range ceiling […]

Mortgage rates jumped sharply higher on Tuesday in response to weakness driven by geopolitical events and overseas financial markets. After hitting lows of 5.99% for a few hours on January 9th and spending last week in the low 6's, the average top tier 30yr fixed rate is back up to 6.21% today.  […]

On today’s Mortgage Law Today at 3PM ET, sponsored by Polunsky Beitel Green, LLP, Brian Levy sits down with Mitch Kider to unpack the shifting legal and regulatory landscape facing mortgage lenders, CFPB uncertainty, fair lending risk, GSE policy, enforcement trends, and how AI is beginning to […]

As Trump's Greenland aspirations continue unabated, measurable fallout is increasing. Part of the strategy is increased tariffs. EU is also planning/threatening retaliatory tariffs as well as suspending talks on the US/EU trade deal. The latest measurable manifestation of this morning's fallout is […]

10yr Yields Finally Break The Range Despite an absence of market movers on the calendar, bonds found a reason to move. In fact, 10yr yields staged their first legit breakout from the narrow trading range of the past 4 months.  Whether that has any […]

Don't stress out. If we ignore the past 5 days, today's mortgage rates are still the lowest since early 2023.  That said, they're up a bit from last week and they moved moderately higher day-over-day. Last week's news regarding Fannie and Freddie's plans to buy $200 bln of MBS (the […]

Builder confidence slipped to start the year, with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) falling two points to 37 in January. The erasure of December’s modest gains doesn't really do much to change the broader picture: builder sentiment remains […]