Mortgage and Financial News_Burlington, NC homes, Greensboro, North Carolina mortgage interest rates, government news

Mortgage News Daily
MBS And Treasuries Stay Strong Through Close	3/16/2010 3:36 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary Bond Bulls In Control All Day Long Fannie 4.5's rise 7 ticks to 101-03 10yr note yield finally meets resistance at 3.65 Stocks end at best levels since Q308 Stocks face major test tomorrow to hold these levels In case you missed it, the news of the day was the FOMC statement. Just want us to pick out and discuss the juicy parts for you? Here: AQ RECAPS FOMC MINUTES Lock/Float already discussed in previous post here: MG DISCUSSES LOCK CONSIDERATIONS Other big news of the day here: Dodd's Releases Reform Package Need more discussion? Good Recap and More Lock/Float The MBS and Treasury bullet points at the top of the page can all be seen in today's chart. The "bulls in control" statement references that there was no major episode of losses (more evident in treasuries). AQ...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
How Did the FOMC Meeting Affect Mortgage Rates?	3/16/2010 3:05 PM
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch After moving higher following a worse than anticipated read on Retail Sales last Friday, mortgage rates made modest improvements yesterday. Activity in the fixed income marketplace was pretty boring though. Mortgage backed securities traded in an extremely tight price range as market participants sat on the sidelines in anticipation of the release of the FOMC Statement today. Before talking about the Federal Reserve, we have a few economic indicators to recap. First out this morning Housing Starts and Building Permits. Housing Starts data estimates how much new residential real estate construction occurred in the previous month . New construction means digging has begun. Adding rooms or renovating old ones does not count, the builder must be constructing a new home (can be on old foundation...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Reprices for the Better Reported as MBS Hit Intraday Price Highs	3/16/2010 1:57 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary 4.5's up 8 ticks on the day to 101-04 10yr Tsy yield down just over 4bps to 3.65 S&P at 1159 (highest since sept. 2008, 9 pts higher than Friday) AQ brought you up to speed on FOMC statement, and the rest of the day has been pretty easy: just sit back and enjoy the healthy (but not insane) rally... Both MBS and Tsy's look to be honing in on their ranges established just after FOMC. A bit more volatility in MBS at the moment, but take some solace by the stronger and steadier showing from benchmark big brother: 10yr tsy. It's not like we're not expected to widen out from 10's, but when the benchmark is stable into a rally, it's one more variable we do not have to account for in identifying threats to pricing. Look for reprices for the better if you haven't seen...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
What is Right About the Mortgage Industry?	3/16/2010 1:47 PM
Posted To: Community Commentary I have probably drafted around 15 different articles for a Community Commentary since the beginning of the year, but chose not to post them because for the most part they were rants about the absurdity of RESPA, the idiocy of HVCC, the impotence of the CFPA. But as I read each draft, I felt I was simply regurgitating everything that is negative, feeding on the energy of discontent that anyone crazy enough to still be originating mortgage loans for a living is already experiencing. Instead, I asked myself what is right about the mortgage industry? What can we take away as positives in this community? Rays of light that can been seen as a hopeful sign of good things to come, rather than evidence of another hurtling train coming to decimate what is left of the non-big bank mortgage lending community...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
FOMC STATEMENT: Fed's MBS Purchase Program on Course to End as Planned, But....	3/16/2010 12:15 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary The FOMC Statement has been released. First and foremost, there was no significant change in the verbiage regarding the end of the MBS Purchase Program. Here is how the statement reads: "To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve has been purchasing $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt; those purchases are nearing completion, and the remaining transactions will be executed by the end of this month " The text that follows the above statement was slightly adjusted in a manner that leaves the door open for a program extension. "The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Raising Capital to Help Grow Your Mortgage Operation	3/16/2010 11:21 AM
Posted To: The Garrett Watts Report We’ve been writing a lot on the profits of high performing mortgage bankers in 2009. Last year looks to have been a great year for most mortgage bankers, especially for those who originated FHA loans and sold them through mandatory delivery commitments. Higher performers made in excess of 65 basis points in pre-tax profits. Common denominators among high performers are the size, components and deployment of their capital. The higher performers had a strong balance sheets and were very liquid. They used their capital wisely to exploit opportunity in the market. Some of the key uses of capital and liquidity were the following: Capital was used to procure and build warehouse lending capacity to support their production expansion strategies Increase warehouse capacity helped to improve the...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Addressing Analyst Concerns For "Material" MBS Corrections	3/16/2010 9:16 AM
Posted To: MBS Commentary I've gotten quite a few emails from panicked pipeline managers and loan writers regarding Meredith Whitney's bearish feelings on the Fed's exit from the MBS market and the general health of housing. If you missed it... THIS STORY is a decent recap of the CNBC interview. If you are asking, WHO IS MEREDITH WHITNEY?....she is an influential Wall Street banking analyst and independent investment researcher. She was notoriously bearish about the banking system before the worst days of the current financial crisis...and got a lot of attention because of it. Her guidance, outlook, and opinion have the ability to move markets.... This morning, Meredith correctly called attention to the fact that the macroeconomic recovery is largely dependent on the health of housing. Whitney is concerned...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Dodd Releases Huge Financial Reform Package. MND Initial Recap	3/16/2010 8:49 AM
Posted To: MND NewsWire Yesterday, just one day shy of the second anniversary of the Bear Stearns collapse, Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, released his long awaited proposal to overhaul the nation's financial regulations. The changes, viewed by many as the most sweeping since the Depression, are apparently backed by the Obama administration. Dodd said that the overhaul is designed to stabilize the nation's financial system in the hopes of preventing a repeat of the near collapse of major players in the fall of 2008. However, forces are both the right and the left appear ready to do battle over many parts of the proposal. Dodd had been working on the proposal with one of the leading members of the committee, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), but recently decided to finish...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Fed Doves & Hawks Defined; More on USDA; ResCap & Goldman; Rent vs. Buy; Refinancing Government Debt	3/16/2010 8:20 AM
Posted To: Pipeline Press Not a day passes whereby an employee in a mortgage bank doesn't start a grease fire (which they claim is an accident) in the kitchen. In all seriousness, here's a worthwhile 45 seconds . In a story from the New York Post, GMAC has hired Goldman Sachs to start the process of selling Res Cap . Between GMAC being mostly owned by the government ($17 billion for 56%), and Res Cap losing billions of dollars, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owning a sizeable chunk of ResCap's debt, it could make for an interesting story. Recently the committee overseeing how money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program is managed issued a report on how the government has handled the GMAC bailout, saying "it is deeply concerned that Treasury has not required GMAC to lay out a clear path...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Housing Starts Fall 5.9 pct. Building Permits Decline 1.6 pct. Rates Reverse Course	3/16/2010 6:48 AM
Posted To: MBS Commentary Housing Starts and Building Permits fell in February. Housing Starts moved 5.9% lower to 575,000 annualized units, almost erasing the 6.6% gain seen in January. While this was a poor print for housing starts, the market was expecting worse...hence this is easier for traders to shrug off. Building Permits were 1.6% weaker in February at an annualized rate of 612,000. This follows a 4.7% decline in January but was essentially "on the screws" as forecasts called for an annualized pace of 610,000 permits. So again....crappy data, but not worse than anticipated. Looking a little deeper, most of the weakness in Housing Starts was a in mutli-family. SFRs barely budged while multi-unit fell from 109k units in Jan to 76k units in Feb. The same can be said about Building Permits...Single-family...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
The Day Ahead: Housing Starts, Building Permits, FOMC Statement	3/16/2010 6:11 AM
Posted To: MND NewsWire The dollar is weaker and equities look to open higher as investors await the afternoon policy statement from the Federal Reserve Board. Two hours before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 16 points to 10,592 and S&P 500 futures are 2.00 points higher at 1,147.75. Commodities are also on the rise, with WTI crude oil up 18 cents to $79.98 per barrel and Spot Gold up $6.35 to $1,114.80. Key Events Today: 8:30 ― Snow storms and poor weather are expected to push Housing Starts down in February, following a 2.8% gain in January. Demand remains weak overall, though new construction on residential homes is up 21% from last year. Expectations among economists are diverse, ranging from 530k to 591k, and the consensus is 565k. “Although it is highly unlikely we will revisit the record lows...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Mortgage Rates Waiting on the Federal Reserve	3/15/2010 4:24 PM
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates moved higher early Friday morning following a better than expected read on Retail Sales. However, as the day progressed, benchmark Treasury yields did move lower, helping mortgage-backed securities prices recover early session losses. Most lenders did not reprice for the better after these improvements though. After a slow week of economic data, the calendar picks up in the days ahead. Starting with manufacturing data this morning.... Each month, the New York Federal Reserve conducts a survey of approximately 175 manufacturing executives in New York State on the strength of business conditions. Readings above 0 indicate expanding or improving conditions while readings below 0 indicate contraction. This data has indicated steady improvements since August of 2009. The Empire State...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
MBS CLOSE: Flat Day Reiterates Focus On FOMC	3/15/2010 3:33 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary In shocking twist of events, MBS end where they begin, with 4.5 at 100-29 "Huge" change in treasuries too with 10yr at 3.695 vs. 3.701 coming into the day (a whole 6 thousands) Stocks rally to close right at their best levels from Friday, but no higher. Stock lever didn't hurt bonds. Tomorrow AM data of low to moderate importance: Housing Starts at 830 expected at .565 mln vs .591 mln previously Import/Export Prices at 830 (previously .8% MoM and 3.4% YoY on exports and 1.4% MoM and 11.5% YoY on imports) Important stuff later in day with FOMC announcement at 215pm Did you know that MoM and YoY refer to "month over month" change and "year over year" change, respectively? We use that from time to time, as do others. And armed with that little bit of knowledge...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Ranking the Largest Banks by Assets; Warehouse Lending; More on Mandatory vs. Best Efforts; Funding Costs Are Really Cheap	3/15/2010 2:33 PM
Posted To: The Garrett Watts Report With all the moving and shifting, here are the most recent numbers on the largest banks ranked by assets: A few others you know are: #12 U.S. Bancorp ($265 billion), #17 BB&T ($165 billion), #23 Fifth Third ($110 billion), #33 Comerica ($59 billion), #82 Sterling Financial, Spokane ($11.9 billion). Top bank research firm Keefe, Bruyette has identified 21 distinct periods of bank performance starting in the early 1960s. Outperformance periods averaged 34 months in length, during which bank stocks outperformed the market by an average of 20.8% annualized. The under-performance cycles averaged 23 months, during which bank stocks lagged the market by 20% per year, on average. Our view is that an outperformance for small cps banks is just around the corner. A good example of how much access...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
MBS AFTERNOON: Coasting To Uneventful Conclusion	3/15/2010 2:10 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary MBS 4.5's unchanged at 100-28 10yr Tsy at 3.703 Stocks Rallying BIG into their close with S&P at 1150, same as last week's ceiling Seems like the S&P rallying from 1143 to 1150 should be more important than it's actually turning out to be for bonds. Without looking at the stock market itself, you'd scarcely be able to infer that rally from any weakness in bonds. Indeed, treasuries and MBS yields have moved about as much as a fully depressed Toyota gas pedal. The focus remains on FOMC tomorrow. This is probably part of the reason stocks can get away with a late day rally without affecting bonds too much, not to mention there's limited volume behind it....(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Home Builder Confidence Falls. Foul Weather and Distressed Sales Cited as Reason	3/15/2010 1:17 PM
Posted To: MND NewsWire The National Association of Home Builders released their monthly Housing Market Index today. Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor. In March, Builder confidence lost the small amount of progress seen in February...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Loan Mod Conversion Rate Improves in February. True Success Depends on Job Creation	3/15/2010 12:40 PM
Posted To: MND NewsWire The Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP) , a joint effort by the Departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to prevent foreclosures, is reporting that 168,708 homeowners have now graduated from the HAMP trial modification program and have active permanent modifications by the end of February. This works out to a 12.4 percent conversion rate, a modest improvement from January when the permanent modification conversion rate was 9.2 percent. The program, which began last spring, has now enrolled 1,094,064 borrowers in modifications which lower mortgage payments to a maximum of 31 percent of monthly income. 1,354,350 invitations to participate in the program have been extended to distressed homeowners. This is 34 to 45 percent of the goal of 3 to 4 million set for the end of...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
MBS LUNCH: Slow Day, But Favoring Bonds	3/15/2010 12:35 PM
Posted To: MBS Commentary 4.5's up a tick at 100-29 10yr tsy up .004 in yield to 3.704 General post-retail-sales theme, stocks down, bonds better, waiting on FOMC After starting weaker, MBS are back into the green, but only slightly. Still, looking over the past several days, we're right in the mix, which is right where you'd expect considering Friday failed to change any paradigms and that the market is waiting for the next big shoe to drop in the form of FOMC tomorrow. Treasuries and stocks tell the story even better. Of course we see the clear failure of respective tests on Friday (test= approach and touch a significant price/yield level), but even today, new technical levels are being created on the way back to the center of the range. For treasuries, that looks like 3.73. In stocks, after we see the...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Foreign Demand for TSY Notes and Bonds Still Strong	3/15/2010 9:07 AM
Posted To: MBS Commentary The Treasury Department this morning released Treasury International Capital data for January 2010. This report tracks flows of investment funds leaving and entering the U.S financial system. Foreign accounts bought a net total of $61.4bn in TSY notes and bonds in January 2010 . Compare that to $69.9bn in Dec and $117.9bn in November and $289.2 billion in January 2009. Notes are debt securities with a maturity between 1 year and 10 years (rate sheet influential). Bonds are debt with a maturity greater than 10 years. Both notes and bonds trade with a coupon. Yields are determined by the coupon and the price the market is willing to pay for that coupon clip. For instance, the 10 yr note is trading with a 3.625% coupon. Current market is 3.71%. The yield is higher than the coupon, the 10 year...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
FDIC Selling Mortgage Assets of Failed Banks; "Good" Foreclosure Stats; Updates from: Chase, WAMU, USB, Wells, FAMC,SunTrust	3/15/2010 9:04 AM
Posted To: Pipeline Press As the lyrics from "Green Acres" noted, "New York is where I'd rather stay. I get allergic smelling hay. I just adore a penthouse view. Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue." New York regulators on Friday closed the Park Avenue Bank with total assets of $520 million and total deposits of $494 million. The FDIC has arranged for Valley National Bank (NJ) to run it. (Valley National is also taking over LibertyPointe Bank, which was shuttered Thursday.) Down in Florida Old Southern Bank was shut down, and will be run by Centennial Bank out of Arkansas. And in Louisiana, Statewide Bank was closed by the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Home Bank , also based in Louisiana, will assume all of the deposits. There is indeed...(read more) Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.