There was a problem returning the RSS feed.
There was a problem returning the RSS feed.

:

Surprisingly Big Bond Rally Relative to The Data

2/5/2026 1:59 PM

Surprisingly Big Bond Rally Relative to The Data Bonds went on a bit of a buying spree on Thursday. It was the biggest rally day since November, at least, and that"s impressive given the motivations. Specifically, there was a trifecta of downbeat labor market reports (Challenger, Jobless Claims, and Job Ope...Read More

Mortgage Rates Fall After Downbeat Employment Data

2/5/2026 12:52 PM

Mortgage rates are driven by bonds and that bonds care about employment data. There are quite a few different economic reports that focus on various employment metrics. Next Wednesday"s jobs report is the biggest ticket by far, but other reports can move the needle at times--especially when they fall far from forecasts or previous readings. This w...Read More

Climate Risk, Processing, Construction, Credit Score Programs; IMB Topics; In-Person Events

2/5/2026 10:31 AM

Yup, another competitor for lenders come July: Bed Bath & Beyond is acquiring Tokens.com “to develop a blockchain-based investment and personal finance platform” and will use tools from tZERO and integrate with blockchain firm Figure to offer services such as mortgages and renovation loans. Indeed, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnersh...Read More

Stronger Start Thanks to Employment Data

2/5/2026 8:21 AM

Bonds were incidentally and inconsequentially stronger to start the overnight session, but began to see better gains after 7am ET. There were two notable bumps in volume after the 7:30am Challenger job cut data and the 8:30am Jobless Claims data.  Of the two, the latter was much more clearly linked to gains.  Challenger definitely got a s...Read More

No Whammies in Wednesday"s Data. JOLTS Rescheduled for Thursday

2/4/2026 2:57 PM

No Whammies in Wednesday"s Data. JOLTS Rescheduled for Thursday With the big jobs report on hold until next Wednesday, this morning"s ADP/ISM duo had to do most of the week"s heavy lifting in terms of important econ data. The response was underwhelming, at best. ADP was a complete non-event, but also fairly...Read More

Mortgage Rates Hold Perfectly Steady at 2-Week Highs

2/4/2026 1:58 PM

The average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate hit its highest levels in 2 weeks yesterday. The caveat was that the range has been very narrow during these 2 weeks. As such, by remaining unchanged versus yesterday, today"s rates are part of the same narrow range (6.15-6.20% for MND"s index). There were two relevant economic reports this morning as ...Read More

Blockchain, NOO HELOC, RON Tools; Better.com CEO"s Thoughts; IMB Conference Observations; CFPB Update

2/4/2026 10:45 AM

Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders Can AI help you spot the lending bias you can’t see? In his CEO Magazine Podcast interview, Optimal Blue CEO Joe Tyrrell shares the company’s platform-wide AI strategy to help reduce human bias in lending decisions. Instead of replacing lending teams, AI at Optimal Blue is built as a suite ...Read More

Waiting on ISM Services as Early Data Fails to Inspire

2/4/2026 8:01 AM

Today"s two key reports are ADP Employment (8:15am ET) and ISM Services (10am ET).  The former came out a bit softer than expected, but bonds didn"t react.  15 minutes later, Treasury released financing estimates for the quarter. These were as-expected and unchanged from the previous quarter, but Treasury noted that issuance would likely ...Read More

Mostly Sideways. Volatility Elsewhere

2/3/2026 2:48 PM

Mostly Sideways. Volatility Elsewhere The legend of the bond market"s extreme apathy is increasingly making the rounds in financial circles. Bond issuance, inflation, and economic strength are not seen surging enough to put huge upward pressure on longer-term rates. And without a big downturn in 2 of those ...Read More

Mortgage Rates Drift Up to 2-Week Highs

2/3/2026 2:23 PM

The bad news: mortgage rates moved up to their highest levels in 2 weeks today.  The good news: the rate range has been very narrow during that time, so there"s not too much of a difference between 2-week highs (6.20%) and lows (6.15%).  Today"s move wasn"t a product of anything that happened today. Rather, the culprit was the focal poi...Read More

---