Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1309.6	1.0	0.08%
Eurostoxx Index	2124.7	8.5	0.40%
Oil (WTI)	87.6	-0.2	-0.25%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	82.81	-0.212	-0.26%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.59%	-0.03%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	177.5	0.0

Equity markets are flat after yesterday's bloodbath, while bonds continue to rally.  The 10 year is trading at 1.59%. MBS are up as well. Lest anyone think this is strictly a US phenomenon, yields in the "safe" European countries like Switzerland, Denmark, Germany are even lower. On the other hand, Greek debt now yields 30.6%, which is pretty much the same level it was before default.

Today is Jobs Day with a slew of labor-related economic releases at 8:30. Challenger has already said that announced job cuts were up 67% YOY in May.  This is a notoriously volatile index because one large employer (in this case HP) can dominate the month, so you have to focus on the trends and here 10 out of the last months showed increases. On the other hand, announced job cuts don't always happen so take it with a grain of salt.  That said, there aren't a lot of forward-looking labor measures out there.

Initial Jobless Claims came in at 383k, higher than the 370k estimate. The ADP Employment change report predicts 133k jobs were added in May.  1Q GDP was revised downward to 1.9%, in line with expectations. Consumption, exports, and residential fixed investment (finally!) drove Q1 GDP growth.

Delays in foreclosures and recent incentives by the Obama administration are making short sales more attractive to lenders than foreclosures.  Short sales were up 25% from a year ago as opposed to bank-owned sales which dropped 15%.  More aggressive pricing on the part of lenders is driving the increase.

Given the outsized rally in Treasuries yesterday, you would have expected a commensurate drop in mortgage rates.  But that didn't happen. Mortgage rates are moving lower only grudgingly as rates fall, indicating that we may be reaching a floor, or at least further drops will be very hard to come by.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1323.7	-9.7	-0.73%
Eurostoxx Index	2162.6	2.3	0.10%
Oil (WTI)	89.51	-1.2	-1.38%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	82.54	0.056	0.07%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.69%	-0.05%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	177.5	0.1

A sloppy tape to start the day as Euro fears take center stage. Spanish credit default swaps are at 522 basis points, an all-time high. Troubled Spanish lender Bankia continues to fall. Greek sovereign debt is over 30%. The beneficiary of the risk-off trade is the US 10-year, where yields are down 6 basis points. Meanwhile, oil cannot get out of its own way, with WTI down 15% this month.

The 10-year yield is flirting with the Sep low of 1.673%.  MBS are unchd, and we are witnessing a similar phenomenon as last fall, where the 10 year rallied and MBS underperformed. The spread between the Freddie Mac generic 30 year fixed mortgage and the 10-year bond yield is 2.04%.  Here is a chart of the generic 30 year fixed rate mortgage, the 10-year bond, and the spread between the two.

While mortgage rates are falling as the yield on the 10 year falls, they are falling much more slowly. So, if you are facing a lock decision, you have are faced with a bit of a conundrum:  If the 10 year yield continues to fall, mortgage rates might not participate. In other words, we may be reaching a floor in mortgage rates.  Which means you might as well lock.  On the other hand, if the 10 year yield starts backing up, mortgage rates should rise much slower since they really didn't fall that much to begin with.  Which means you have some room to wait and see what happens, and you might want to float. So, lock or float?  IMO, when markets crack, they crack quickly. And the 10 year is at very lofty levels. It could go from 1.7% to 2.4% in a hurry. The risk is more skewed towards mortgage rates increasing quickly than falling quickly. I would lean short in mortgage rates, or in other words, lock.

Part of the reason why the recovery has been so halting has been that the job market for those in their prime earnings years has been horrendous. Instead of making the top salaries of their lives (which they need to pay for college for their kids and also retirement savings), many people in their prime earnings years are either unemployed or underemployed.  This is a huge drag on the economy. 

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1322.0	7.0	0.53%
Eurostoxx Index	2147.7	-0.3	-0.01%
Oil (WTI)	91.13	0.3	0.30%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	82.27	-0.131	-0.16%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.72%	-0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	177.4	0.3

Markets are higher this morning on hopes of stimulus in China. Spain is working on a rescue plan for Bankia, its 3rd largest lender. Spanish banking woes have pushed their sovereign debt to around 6.5%, close to the highs of last November. While Greek and Spanish fears are pushing sovereign yields higher, we have not seen a corresponding rise in EURIBOR / OIS, which is a signal that the banking system in Europe is taking a sanguine view, at least for now.  Meanwhile, Treasuries and bonds are higher, with the 10 year bond now at 1.73%

The S&P Case-Schiller index posted a slight sequential gain in March, but was still down 3% YOY, and made a new post-crisis low. Nationwide, house prices on average are back at their mid-2002 levels. That said, the pace of the decline has definitely slowed.

Chart:  Case-Schiller

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1322.1	-0.5	-0.04%
Eurostoxx Index	2148.8	-7.7	-0.36%
Oil (WTI)	90.91	0.3	0.28%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	82.16	-0.186	-0.23%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.76%	-0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	177.1	0.4

Markets are flat overall this morning, which makes sense.  Given the fact we have a 3 day weekend and we may have a resolution on the Greek situation, you would have to be certifiably insane to carry positions over the weekend.  Bonds close early today, and I suspect most of the Street will be on the L.I.E. by noon.

No economic data with the exception of University of Michigan confidence at 9:55 this morning. University of Michigan consumer confidence really just tells you where gas prices were last month (h/t Ron at MCM). Consumer sentiment and the Triple A Gas Price index have a -.52 correlation with a 1 month lag.

Are people who bought Facebook stock in the initial frenzy getting a do-over?  Sounds like it. The underwriters are claiming they made $100 million supporting the stock. I can see how they made money supporting the stock on the open.  I can't see how they made money supporting it at the close since it opened down a couple of bucks the next day. Unless they were shorting it in the 40s.

I came across this testimony from a community banker regarding the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank and the Volcker rule. The biggest one is that the regulators swung at Goldman and Morgan, they ducked, and the regulator ended up slugging all the small fry right in the jaw. When you have 15% of your staff handling regulatory matters and 12% of your operating budget is compliance there is a problem. He notes that regulatory costs as a percent of operating costs is 2.5x the costs for big banks. The Volcker rule alone will require the drafting of policies and procedures to ensure the East Podunk Savings and Loan doesn't inadvertently set up a trading desk and start slinging around credit default swaps.

He also notes some major problems with the "ability to repay" test on mortgage origination and on the CFPB's characterization of pricing risk as "predatory lending."  The net result may be to drive community banks out of entire lines of business because of regulatory risk.  Will the powers that be listen?  I doubt they will do anything more than make perfunctory statements that these regulations were not meant to impact small banks. They will listen to this guy instead.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1317.8	2.1	0.16%
Eurostoxx Index	2154.3	20.3	0.95%
Oil (WTI)	90.56	0.7	0.73%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	82.14	0.046	0.06%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.75%	0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	176.7	0.5

Markets are giving up earlier gains on the back of some disappointing economic reports. Euro sovereigns are higher with the exception of Greece which now yields 30% and Portugal. Bonds are down a point and MBS are down a few ticks as well.

The Durable Goods headline number came in at +.2%, more or less in line with expectations, but DG ex transportation fell .6%. Cap Goods orders and shipments both fell. This metric tracks business investment and is an ominous sign for the economy.  This might explain why HP is laying off 27,000 workers.

Initial Jobless claims came in at 370k, in line with expectations.

Freddie Mac released their Economic and Housing Outlook yesterday. It mainly re-hashes data we have already seen. They are of the view that housing is at or near bottom and that rental vacancies are at 9-year lows.

The housing market had another positive data point with the Toll Brother's earnings announcement. Toll is in the McMansion business, so this report focuses more on the high end. Q2 revenues rose 14% YOY, but signed contracts increased 51%.  Backlog was up 49%. Granted, we are coming off of a low base, but you are starting to see some life in homebuilding. Doug Yearley, CEO said "It appears that the housing market has moved into a new and stronger phase of recovery as we have experienced broad-based improvement across most of our regions over the past six months. The spring selling season has been the most robust and sustained since the downturn began."  Granted, he is talking his book, but still...

Morning Report

Vital Statistics

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1305.2	-9.6	-0.73%
Eurostoxx Index	2148.5	-44.3	-2.02%
Oil (WTI)	91.15	-0.7	-0.76%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.71	0.218	0.27%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.74%	-0.03%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	176.2	0.6

Markets are lower this morning on GREXIT (Greek exit) fears and a lousy earnings report from Dell. Euro sovereign yields are generally lower, with the exception of Greece which is 22 basis points higher and approaching 30%. Remember, this is the post-reorg debt that is trading here. Their debt was trading around 35% before Greece did their restructuring about 10 weeks ago. The stress in Europe is pushing down bond yields here and MBS are up as well.

While the migration to tablets is hurting Dell, they also noted corporations are delaying spending.  Is it because IT spending is slowing in general, or is it that corporations have learned not to beta-test Microsoft operating systems (in this case Windows 8)?

The Congressional Budget Office weighs in on Taxmageddon. Punch line: The budget deficit will drop by $560 billion, and real GDP growth will be .5%, with a contraction of 1.3% in 1H and an expansion of 2.3% in 2H. Remember the government operates on a Sep fiscal, so they are predicting recession in the Sep 12 - Mar 13 time period. If we cancel the tax increases and spending cuts, CBO estimates that real GDP growth would be about 4.4% in real (not nominal) terms in CY13. That is an aggressive (with a capital "A") forecast.

DealBook has an interesting article on the possible unintended consequences of breaking up the big banks.

In other news, the NAR has declared the housing recovery to be underway. The MBA reported that mortgage applications increased 3.8% last week. New home sales in April were 343k, an increase of 3.3% MOM. The FHFA House Price index showed an increase of .55% QOQ and .5% YOY.  This is the first increase since early 2007.  Remember the FHFA index only looks at conforming loans, which is more of the "core" housing market.  It has proven to be a much less volatile index than Case-Schiller or RPX.

Chart:  FHFA House Price Index:

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1319.1	3.4	0.26%
Eurostoxx Index	2181.4	31.3	1.45%
Oil (WTI)	92.34	-0.2	-0.25%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.2	0.119	0.15%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.78%	0.04%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.7	0.1

Markets are generally firmer this morning on hopes of further stimulus out of China and Europe. Euro sovereign yields are lower. US bond futures are down a point and MBS are down slightly.  MBS underperformed bonds in the rally, so they should outperform as bonds retrace.

Richmond Fed came in below expectations. This survey looks at the service sector for Richmond, Baltimore and Charlotte. Revenues actually contracted in May. They note that service providers expect stronger customer demand over the next six months, while retailers do not.

Existing Home Sales came in at 4.62MM annualized.  5.5 million is about "average."  The number is up 10% YOY. The lack of distressed sales and the seasonal move towards bigger houses increased the median price 10% from 161,100 to 177,400. Overall, it notes that the headwinds in the real estate sector are abating.

Yesterday we had a number of sizeable mergers, with Eaton buying Cooper Industries for 12.8 billion, DaVita buying Healthcare Partners for 4.5B and Wanda Group buying AMC. Generally speaking, mergers are a good sign for the markets and the economy in general.

Andrew Ross Sorkin has a good column on why Glass Steagall wouldn't have prevented the crisis. The Glass-Steagall issue has become a facile explanation of what went wrong. Elizabeth Warren even acknowledges this - one of the reasons she has been pushing reinstating GS - even if it wouldn't have prevented the financial crisis - is that it is an easy issue for the public to understand and "you can build public attention behind."  And there you have it. Never mind that nobody else in the world (the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada) separates commercial and investment banking, or even draws a distinction between the two.

What was the rationale behind Glass-Steagall in the first place?  Poorly underwritten deals (for example, Facebook).  Facebook was the quintessential poorly underwritten deal.  An underwritten deal means that the investment banks (primarily Morgan Stanley) actually write a check to the company and buy 421MM shares at 38. It then places those shares with institutional investors.  If the deal is handled well, Morgan Stanley sells all the stock, collects its fee and moves on. This deal did not go well, obviously. Institutional investors sold into the market and FB was in danger of breaking price. Morgan Stanley stood in the market and bought everything that the market was willing to sell at the offer price. (If an IPO breaks price on the first day, that is a MAJOR embarrassment to the investment bank). So Morgan Stanley is now lugging millions of Facebook shares that it bought in the market at 38. The stock is trading at 32.65. Huge loss. Pre-Glass Steagall, what would they do?  Sell the stock to their captive commercial bank at 38. (Hey, we bumped up your allocation to 5 million shares)  Institutional investors will pull their money out quickly if they sense an investment bank is in trouble.  Depositors at a sleepy commercial bank?  Not so much.  Note:  This was done more with bond issues than stock issues, but the rationale remains the same. In the Great Depression, commercial banks were failing and it turned out their assets were not home mortgages or commercial loans - they were all the lousy deals their sister investment bank couldn't unload. That is why we had Glass-Steagall - to prevent commercial banks from being repositories for losing positions.

Fast forward to the financial crisis - commercial banks weren't failing because they bought CDO-squared issues from their investment banking divisions. Or because Citi was stuffing its retail bank with LBO paper it couldn't unload. The reason we had a financial crisis is because we had a residential real estate bubble.  Every bank in the US is exposed to residential real estate in some way, shape, or form. And it didn't matter whether you were exposed to residential real estate through a mortgage backed security or through holding whole loans on your balance sheet.  The small community banks who wouldn't know a CDO from a codfish blew up just the same as the big integrated banks.

Probably the single best thing regulators could do to prevent a re-occurrence would be to deal with the cascading counterparty risk from OTC derivatives. They should demand that OTC derivatives become standardized and exchange-traded with a central clearing party, position limits, and open interest disclosure. That would have prevented AIG from taking the positions it did and exposing all of its counterparties when it failed.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1296.5	5.7	0.44%
Eurostoxx Index	2146.8	2.1	0.10%
Oil (WTI)	91.62	0.1	0.15%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.26	-0.036	-0.04%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.73%	0.01%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.6	0.0

Markets are generally firmer this morning on comments from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao supporting further measures to boost the economy. Euro sovereign sovereign spreads are a touch wider. Bonds and MBS are down.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose .11 in April after falling .44 in March. This basically means that the economy is growing at its historical trend. Anything between -.7 and +.7 is considered on trend. Production was a positive factor, while consumption was negative. Employment was neutral.

Is the Fed more optimistic about future growth than Wall Street?  It appears to be the case. The average Wall Street growth forecast for 2012 is 2.3%, while the Fed is forecasting 2.4% - 2.9% growth. One explanation is that the Fed underestimates how much the credit-multiplier breaks down in the aftermath of asset bubbles. Meanwhile, the TIPS market is trimming its inflation forecast and giving Ben Bernake the room to maneuver.

Facebook has broken the IPO price in the pre-open and is trading at 36.51.  5.6 million shares have traded. Bob Griefeld, CEO of NASDAQ, blamed software glitches for the problems with trading FB on Friday where customer sell orders were delayed on the open.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1307.5	6.2	0.48%
Eurostoxx Index	2155.6	8.7	0.40%
Oil (WTI)	92.68	0.1	0.13%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.38	-0.004	0.00%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.72%	0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.6	0.1

Markets are firmer this morning after enduring a bloody week which sent the S&P down 3.6% and the 10 year government bond yield down to 1.69%. Today is also the expiration of May options, so there is always the potential for funny closing prints. There is no economic data being released this morning.  Bonds and MBS are down slightly.

It's Facebook Day! Facebook priced at the top end of the revised range last night and should begin trading around 11:00. There are a stocks that capture the attention of the populace and Facebook is one of them. Growth fund managers who have been starving for a good growth story besides Chipotle Mexican Grill and Lululemon just got a new one. With an IPO price at 28x revenue, the stock will have to almost collapse to get value and GARP guys interested. I'm sure if you are a good technical trader, you should be able to have a field day with this one. Treat it as a slip of paper with an alphanumeric code, not an investment, cause it isn't.

Bloomberg has a column on why principal reductions won't solve the housing crisis. The big problem is that something like 80% of all underwater homeowners with Fan and Fred mortgages are current on their mortgages. Any principal reduction program will encourage people to stop paying their mortgage. Second, of those seriously delinquent, most of them won't be able to afford the lower payment anyway.

The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo have constructed a housing affordability index, which is a measure of the percent of homes affordable by someone at the median income. The latest index is 77.5, which means 77.5 percent of all new and existing homes sold in Q1 were affordable for families earning the national median income. In a lot of ways, this chart is the inverse of my median house price to median income chart.

Chart: NAHB / Wells Fargo Housing Affordability Index:

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1319.6	-2.8	-0.21%
Eurostoxx Index	2140.4	-35.0	-1.61%
Oil (WTI)	93.04	0.2	0.25%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.59	0.218	0.27%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.76%	0.00%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.6	0.1

Markets are lower this morning on a report in the Spanish press that Moody's will downgrade the Spanish banks today and the continuing stand-off between the ECB and the Greek banks. The Spanish IBEX stock exchange is down 24% for the year and is at 9 year lows. Despite the headlines, Euro sovereign yields are flat / lower.

Initial Jobless claims came it at 370k, in line with expectations and we have good earnings from Wal-Mart and Sears. Later today, we will get Philly Fed. Bonds and MBS are up slightly.

Facebook prices tonight and should start trading tomorrow. Barry Ritholtz weighs in. David Einhorn took aim at AMZN at the Ira Sohn conference. His comments could have come from a Alan Abelson column in 1999. I expect to hear a lot of the same "you don't get it" arguments on FB that we heard on AMZN back then.

The minutes of the April FOMC meeting were released yesterday afternoon. They note the possibility of "taxmageddon" - the expiration of the Bush tax cuts - as a sizeable risk to the economy. While they note the size of the shadow inventory and tight lending standards, they believe real estate prices have stabilized. Overall, there seem to be no major changes in this statement - the Fed remains open to QEIII should economic conditions warrant.

Ellie Mae released their latest Origination Insight Report. Ellie Mae provides loan processing software and handles about 20% of US mortgage loan origination. Typical profile of a denied loan?  702 FICO / 87 LTV / DTI 28/43.  Talk about a tight mortgage market.

The problem with having a London Whale is that you have thousands of Ahabs shooting harpoons at you once you disclose you are in trouble with an oversized position. Dealbook is estimating that JP Morgan's trading losses have increased from $2 billion to $3 billion in the last 4 days as every wise-guy hedge fund manager that missed the initial trade puts it on.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1334.7	6.5	0.49%
Eurostoxx Index	2186.7	8.0	0.37%
Oil (WTI)	92.98	-1.0	-1.06%
LIBOR	0.467	0.001	0.21%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	81.31	0.086	0.11%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.80%	0.03%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.5	0.4

S&P futures are firming this morning after hitting lows of 1321 overnight. Good earnings reports from Target and Deere seem to be overshadowing the bank run going on in Greece. Greek, Irish and Portuguese yields are higher this morning. US Treasuries are down half a point while MBS are flat. Everyone is waiting for the minutes of the last FOMC meeting which will be released this afternoon.

Industrial Production increased 1.1% in April, a reasonably strong reading. Capacity Utilization ticked up to 79.2%, but the Fed revised down everything for the past year

The recent drop in rates is triggering refi activity, as evidenced by a 9.2% jump in mortgage applications last week.

April Housing Starts came in at a 717k annualized rate, better than expectations, but still horribly depressed. To put that number in perspective, the in the 74-75 recession, starts bottomed at 904k.  In the 81-82 recession, they bottomed at 837k. In the 91-92 recession, they bottomed at 798k.  These bottoms were V-shaped and typically lasted 6 months or so before returning to normalcy of around 1500.  When was the last time we saw a 800k print?  September of 2008 - almost 4 years ago. Housing historically leads the economy out of a recession, and its absence has been a big part of why this recovery has been so anemic.

Is the summer of 2012 going to be a replay of the summer of 2011?  Certainly the pieces are being put in place - Europe's sovereign debt crisis is again in the forefront, the economy is decelerating after a good Q4 / Q1, and the old saw "Sell in May and go away" was good advice again. We even have the prospect of major tax increases Jan 1 as the Bush tax cuts expire. The only thing we are missing is a debt ceiling fight. Oh, wait...

The Florida Supreme Court is hearing a foreclosure case that asks an interesting question - can the banks who filed foreclosures based on robo-signed documents voluntarily dismiss these cases and re-file them with better documents?

The good market reception to the Facebook IPO means that sellers are increasing the amount for sale. Existing holders like Goldman, Tiger, and Accel are blowing out of 241MM shares, much more than they originally planned.  Surprisingly, and perhaps no coincidentally,  GM has dropped paid advertising with Facebook because they "weren't effective enough". Apparently "likes" doesn't necessarily translate into sales or dealer inquiries.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1336.0	1.9	0.14%
Eurostoxx Index	2179.7	-22.2	-1.01%
Oil (WTI)	94.71	-0.1	-0.07%
LIBOR	0.466	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.89	0.280	0.35%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.78%	0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.5	0.4

Markets are up this morning on a lack of news out of Europe and some mixed economic data. The Consumer Price Index showed inflation remains benign, while retail sales data showed spending up slightly and below expectations. Bonds and MBS are down slightly. Greek bond yields are up 160 basis points. Portugal and Ireland are up as well.

The New York Fed released its Empire State Manufacturing Survey this morning, which came in better then expected on higher shipments. Six month optimism fell.

The National Association of Home Builders released its builder confidence survey this morning, which showed improving sentiment.

The Washington Post is starting to focus on the tax hikes that will take place in the beginning of 2013. They note the uncertainty that it is causing. So far, there seems to be no discussions in Washington about what to do about it. IMO this has been driving some of the recent deceleration in the economy.

Lots of institutional investors are clicking "Like" - Facebook raised the range of its IPO price from 28-35 to 34-38. At the top end of the range, FB would be valued at 26x sales - or about twice the valuation of the Google IPO.

Ally doesn't plan on re-organizing the mortgage business and getting back in to the housing market. They are going to stick with car loans. Money Quote from Ally CEO Michael Carpenter: "You can live in your car if you don't pay your mortgage.  I don't mean to be cute, but the fact is people make their car payment before they pay their mortgage."

Chart:  NAHB Index:

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1340.2	-9.8	-0.73%
Eurostoxx Index	2199.2	-55.4	-2.46%
Oil (WTI)	94.47	-1.7	-1.73%
LIBOR	0.466	-0.001	-0.21%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.51	0.248	0.31%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.78%	-0.05%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.3	0.0

A sloppy start to the week as sovereign spreads widen in Europe. Greek sovereign debt is now trading at a 27.4% yield, which is the same level as last Nov. Don't forget, this is the post-reorg debt - for those keeping score at home, Greek sovereigns were at 15% last year at this time, rose to over 40%, did a restructuring two months ago which pushed yields down to 17%, and now they are 27%. Spanish yields are rising, and it is time to start paying attention to the credit default swaps on the big European banks - Dexia is considered one of the worst cases, and is trading at the 17.75% level.

All of the stress in Europe is pushing down Treasury yields which sit about 10 basis points above September's lows. MBS are higher as well, with the Fannie and Ginnie 3.5s up 6 ticks. This is putting pressure on oil and the Euro. The S&P futures are suggesting that the 200 day moving average is going to get broken on the open.

It is official - Ally's Residential Capital has filed for bankruptcy protection. This move separates the auto loan and banking business, and should pave the way for the government to divest its 74% stake. Ally is providing the $150MM DIP and is kicking in $750MM.

It looks like 3 executives from JP Morgan will walk the plank over the $2 billion "hedging" loss in their Chief Investment Office unit. Jamie Dimon is not resigning, at least not yet. It is surprising that JP Morgan disclosed the loss before it fully exited the position - if disclosure rules forced his hand, that is a big unintended consequence. This episode will undoubtedly elicit calls for more regulation, and strengthens the view in Washington that there is no alpha in banking, just beta.

Chart: Greek 10 year bond yield:

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1349.3	-8.3	-0.61%
Eurostoxx Index	2231.1	-16.3	-0.72%
Oil (WTI)	96.03	-1.0	-1.08%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.19	0.078	0.10%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.85%	-0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.3	-0.1

Markets are lower this morning after J.P. Morgan announced a $2 billion trading loss in its Chief Investment Office unit. April PPI showed inflation is behaving at the wholesale level. Bonds and MBS are higher.

The JP Morgan story is interesting. The position was supposed to hedge the bank's credit exposure. However, if you read the Blooomberg story, it suggests the bank had sold protection on the Markit Series 9 CDX North American investment grade index. Which means it wasn't hedging anything at all - selling protection and extending credit (which is what the bank does) are similar risks. The story goes on to speculate that it may have been some sort of spread bet, where the bank was short long-dated protection and long short-dated protection. Regardless, this position in no way hedges the bank's overall business, at least as far as I can tell. Good luck getting out, guys. J.P. Morgan is going to get their eyes ripped out on the exit.

This incident will not cause a systemic risk in any way - if anything it will simply give ammo to the proponents of the Volcker Rule. A $2 billion loss for a bank that made $19 billion the year before and has $176 billion in equity is not fatal in any way. It also shows (again) the fundamental weakness in Value at Risk (VaR), which basically tells you the best case scenario when the fit hits the shan. JP Morgan stock is down 9.2% this morning.

The CFPB has proposed rules for mortgage origination costs, which bans origination charges that vary by the size of the loan. Rob Christman summed it up perfectly:  "I'm sure that consumer groups are happy about it - just wait until they can't find anyone who's going to do a $100,000 loan." The CFPB has also re-affirmed the anti-steering rules by the Fed.

The Facebook IPO is supposedly garnering lukewarm interest, at least at the price being discussed. It must be bad - I heard Mark Zuckerberg was seen this morning in a suit and tie, eschewing his traditional hoodie. The underwriters still have time to whip up excitement for the deal which should list on May 17 under they symbol FB.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1359.1	8.1	0.60%
Eurostoxx Index	2248.8	23.2	1.04%
Oil (WTI)	96.89	0.1	0.08%
LIBOR	0.467	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.01	-0.075	-0.09%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.89%	0.07%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.4	0.2

Markets are higher this morning on no real news. Yesterday's technical support at 1345 on the S&P 500 held, and perhaps we are just having an oversold bounce. Bonds and MBS are down as well. The Spanish government seized Bankia, the county's largest real estate lender.

Initial Jobless claims for last week came in at 367k, more or less in line with estimates.


Hey, Fannie Mae made some money! And they don't need a check this quarter either.


The National Association of Realtors released their latest quarterly report yesterday, noting that improving sales and declining inventory are creating more balanced conditions. The inventory of homes for sale fell to 2.37MM existing homes from 3.03MM in Q111. The median home price fell slighlty to $158,100 from $158,700. This drops the median home price to median income ratio to 3.075, the lowest level since 1976, and below its historical range of 3.15 - 3.55. Prices after a bubble tend to overcorrect, and it certainly is possible that prices could go lower - however we are officially in "overcorrection" mode.

Chart:  Median House Price to Median Income:

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1345.8	-12.7	-0.93%
Eurostoxx Index	2215.7	-20.4	-0.91%
Oil (WTI)	95.84	-1.2	-1.21%
LIBOR	0.467	0.001	0.21%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.02	0.281	0.35%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.80%	-0.04%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.2	-0.1

Another sloppy morning as people watch the Greeks try and form a governing coalition which may well reject the austerity measures agreed to with the EU. The Greek 10 year is yielding 23.3% and the Athens Stock Exchange Index is now touching 20-year lows. The turmoil in Greece has investors nervously eyeing Spain and Portugal.

This has put pressure on the S&P futures, and a bid under Treasuries. The 10-year traded below 1.8% this morning. I am watching the 1345 level in the S&P 500, which is the 200 day moving average and the low of early March. We came within a couple of points yesterday. Mortgages are rising, but not as much as Treasuries.

Corelogic released its March 2012 Home Price Index yesterday, which showed prices flat YOY. Excluding distressed sales, prices increased overall. The top markets were Wyoming, Virginia, Arizona, North Dakota, and Florida. The worst were Delaware, Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, and Nevada.

FHA foreclosures increased in March, and it released an interesting statistic - that half the mortgages it modified entered into foreclosure a year later. Speaking of mods, Bank of America is offering principal reductions to 200,000 homeowners as part of the State AG settlement.

University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan has an interesting paper discussing the best way forward to improve the economy. He points out that for the past 20 years, the US has attempted to address inequality through the credit mechanism. If we can't do something directly for the middle class, we can allow them to do cash-out refis to spend as if they weren't middle class. Ideologically, there will be something for everyone to love and something for everyone to hate. It provides an excellent historical background on how we got here in the first place. Good read.

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1361.3	-4.5	-0.33%
Eurostoxx Index	2280.4	-2.7	-0.12%
Oil (WTI)	96.95	-1.0	-1.01%
LIBOR	0.466	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	79.74	0.132	0.17%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.85%	-0.02%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175.4	0.4

Markets are generally lower this morning on follow-through from the weekend elections in Europe. German industrial output rose more than forecast, suggesting that Germany may avoid a recession. German GDP growth was negative in Q4, however as an exporter, they benefit form Euro weakness. Such is they symbiotic relationship between the North and South - the Southern European countries benefit from their ability to borrow at lower rates than they otherwise would, while the Northern European countries benefit from the currency weakness that results. Bonds and MBS continue to rally, and the 10-year yield has cracked 1.85%.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses released its Small Business Optimism Report this morning. The report contained an interesting statistic - nearly half of the respondents hired or tried to hire in the last three months, and 3/4 of them said they had "few" or "no" qualified applicants. Hard-to-fill job openings rose, and are typically a leading indicator to a drop in unemployment. Capital Expenditures have increased from the record lows of August 10, but are still below "normal" levels, indicating spending is in maintenance mode, not expansion mode.  Contrary to public perception, access to credit remains low on the list of concerns. Earnings are pushing to cyclical highs. Anyway, it is an interesting report. RTWT.

Wells Fargo made nearly 34% of the $385 billion of mortgages originated in the first quarter. Their next closest competitor was JP Morgan at 10.6%.  Should the Federal Trade Commission start preparing an antitrust lawsuit?  Probably not, as the reason for their increased market share was due to their competitors scaling back the business.

It is looking more like Ally will put its Residential Capital unit into bankruptcy and Treasury will support the decision if it happens. Treasury wants to put Ally on the block and recoup their money, but the liability stream from ResCap is making that impossible. The end result could be an acceleration of putback claims.

Notes from the Bloomberg Housing Panel

Tina was at the Bloomberg Housing Conference last week.  Here are her notes:

All,

I attended the Bloomberg conference last week and below are some notes from the Housing Panel. The panelist were: Sean Donovan Current Secretary at HUD, Jim Millstein Chairman & CEO of Millstein & Co, LLC former Restructuring officer, U.S Dept of Treasury and James Lockhart, Vice Chairman for Wilbur Ross & Co, Federal Housing Finance  Agency, Former Deputy Commissioner and COO social Security Administration

This is according to Sean Donovan (Secretary of HUD):  Housing has reached a bottom. We saw the biggest losses before President Obama took office and progress has been made. We have seen the best winter of home sales and we are beginning to see a different view in the markets. He trend is changing.

There are still 3 barriers to entry: People are being screened out because of barriers

1-      # of new foreclosures

2-      Shadow inventory

3-      Credit availability- home buyers are being priced out or extra hassles of getting a loan if even credit worthy, too expensive to obtain credit

-          Upwards of 3-4mm of foreclosures to go on the market with another 2mm in the pipeline which if this happens will be catastrophic to the housing markets and we could see 2008 all over again but a lot worse. So on  the flip side of what Sec. Donovan said above about housing getting better this doesn’t bode well. This would destroy the housing market and neighborhoods with foreclosures. Crippling our markets yet again.  This was not taken well by groups like us because this just show confidence in our current administration.

-          Affordable housing goals set by the Clinton and Bush administration were too high

-          The Harp 2.0 refi program set out by the Obama Administration has worked, there is a need for Congress to move into the private label market with refi’s

-          there is still uncertainty for about 15-20% of homebuyers

-          Banks are now making mortgages rather selling to Fannie and Freddie

-          The bank’s balance sheets need to shrink by about 20% but they are going in the wrong direction at this point and there is insufficient capital to support

-          There are 10.5 Trillion mortgages

Fannie and Freddie- What to do with them and their future?

The biggest issue with both Fannie and Freddie right now is there is no general consensus in D.C (congress) as to what to do with them either unwind or keep solvent.

There is no plan to unwind them or restore solvency. It will be difficult to get private capital back as they are undercapitalized and until you bring capital back into both of them this is an ongoing issue.  We need some type of action from Congress. All of the uncertainty is causing a mass exodus of very talented individuals at these organizations and this will continue if there is no plan in place or steps being taken from Congress.

There needs to be some consensus as to what to do with the fate of Fannie and Freddie, if it is decided they will both be kept running they both need to be recapitalized and better regulated that is a known fact and something everyone agrees upon. If Congress is going to end both then they need to just do it and start the process..

Fannie and Freddie hold 55% of the mortgages there needs to be mechanisms around working these mortgages in the private label market.

There needs to be a fundamental reform in structure to understand what is being bought in securitization and the focus needs to be broader than just Fannie and Freddie.

The big barriers to Fannie, Freddie and FHA loans is the uncertainty around the foreclosure process.

This is why banks are doing less and less origination and getting out of the origination business

The FHA has raised fees 4x and their market share continues to drop this reiterates the need for private capital to come back to the financial system

The big questions is Can private capital come back without GSE reform? There are currently 6.5T holders of GSE credit so with those numbers it is too risky for private capital. Until there is some type of gov’t guarantee in the system the private sector won’t come back at least without any type of encouragement.

All and all there is a lot of uncertainty right now about the GSEs and this is going to be an ongoing problem until Congress steps in with some type of action.

Christina 

Morning Report

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1357.0	-5.5	-0.40%
Eurostoxx Index	2250.6	2.2	0.10%
Oil (WTI)	97.76	-0.7	-0.74%
LIBOR	0.466	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	79.69	0.190	0.24%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	1.87%	-0.01%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	175	0.4

Global markets are weaker this morning after the far left won elections in France, and Greece voters rejected austerity measures. Greek bond yields have blown out 240 basis points this morning. French yields have taken the election in stride. The CAC-40 (French stock market) is actually up. The S&P futures were initially down 20 points on the Asian open, but have largely recouped their losses. Bonds and MBS are flat / up.

Pundits will be trying to read the tea leaves in the European election. Needless to say, Paul Krugman is delighted. Mohamed El-Arian is cautious.

Robert Samuelson sums up the debate going on in the academic community over how to address the current recession. Paul Krugman has been urging the Fed to target increased inflation in order to decrease unemployment. Ben Bernake considers Krugman's prescription to be reckless.  FWIW, I side with Bernake here. With so much slack in the labor force, we are seeing zero upward pressure on wages, and the Fed's profligacy has created a bull market in commodities. Stagnant wages plus higher food and energy costs are a recipe for more consumer misery, not less.

The Obama administration has released its April Housing Scorecard. Punch Line: The housing market remains fragile and the administration remains committed to try and prevent avoidable foreclosures and to stabilize the housing market. It more or less reads like a campaign ad.

This week is Loanapalooza - the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Conference, which is being held in NYC. Certainly the top issues will be the CFPB, the return of the private label market, and the new regulatory environment.