Archive for Ben Bernanke
The Day Ahead: Bond Markets Rally In Early Trading
Posted by: | CommentsPosted To: MBS Commentary
The bellwether 10-year Treasury remained stable at 3.62% on Wednesday. Overnight it firmed one basis point to 3.61%. The two-year note currently yields 0.84% and the 30-year offers 4.67%. Equity futures offer no direction this morning while the market ignores developments in Bahrain and Libya and looks forward to fresh data on inflation, the labor market, and a series of outlooks from Federal Reserve officials including chairman Ben Bernanke. S&P 500 futures are down 0.8 points from a 32-month high to 1,332.20, while Dow futures are trading 2 points lower at 12,250. The S&P 500 has roughly doubled for its March 2009 low, but remains 17% below its all-time high in October 2007, say economists at BMO Capital Markets. Commodity prices are mixed. Light crude oil is 0.34% down at $84.70…(read more)
Stock Rally Pushes Mortgage Rates Higher
Posted by: | CommentsPosted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage rates started to rise yesterday as stock markets rallied from an eight session low. While only a few lenders repriced for the worse, mortgage-backed securities prices were led lower by an increase in benchmark Treasury yields. This set the stage for lenders to increase mortgage rates this morning. The economic calendar is empty today. When economic data is light, typically the stock market has a larger impact on the bond market, we call this the stock lever. If stocks move higher, it is generally at the expense of the bond market. On the other hand, if stocks move lower the bond market usually benefits. While we had no scheduled economic releases, however, Goldman Sachs reported first quarter results… and they blew away expectations. They reported earnings per share of $5.59…(read more)
Mortgage Rates Give Back Gains After Steady Winning Streak
Posted by: | CommentsPosted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage rates yesterday ended a rally streak that brought consumer borrowing costs back down toward their best levels of 2010. Almost erasing all the losses experienced before and after the Federal Reserve exited the secondary mortgage market. After the steady recovery run seen in MBS over the last few days, it isn’t surprising to see a pull back in mortgage loan pricing. We have a busy day of data and events to discuss. JP Morgan Chase released their first quarter results and they blew away expectations by posting a 74 cents per share earnings and $3.3 billion in revenue. Also announced were Intel earnings. The world’s largest computer chip maker, reported their best quarter in history. This positive news helped stocks improve which generally causes benchmark Treasuries and MBS…(read more)