| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1797.6 | 2.9 | 0.16% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 3055.4 | 22.8 | 0.75% |
| Oil (WTI) | 100.2 | 0.1 | 0.15% |
| LIBOR | 0.237 | 0.003 | 1.18% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 80.58 | -0.067 | -0.08% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.70% | 0.03% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 106.1 | -0.2 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 105 | -0.2 | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 200.7 | -0.2 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 4.24 |
Markets are flat on no real news. Bonds and MBS are down.
Janet Yellen will have her first sit-down with Congress today in her new role as Federal Reserve Chairman. The prepared remarks are here. Regarding monetary policy, she will more or less continue on the path that the Bernanke Fed started:
"Turning to monetary policy, let me emphasize that I expect a great deal of continuity in the FOMC's approach to monetary policy. I served on the Committee as we formulated our current policy strategy and I strongly support that strategy, which is designed to fulfill the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate of maximum employment and price stability."
Other than that, the Fed expects the economy to improve moderately. Testimony begins at 10:00 am EST.
Separately, hawkish voting member Charles Plosser is speaking today as well.
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Report is out, and it shows sentiment increased slightly in January, although they note that inventories are too high - remember that the 4.1% Q4 GDP number was driven by inventory build. It looks like the demand for that inventory has yet to materialize. That said, optimism about future sales and hiring jumped, so perhaps businesses are seeing something (foot traffic, inquiries, etc) that has yet to percolate into the data. That said, 94.1 is still a depressed number (100 is more or less average), and government is driving a big part of that, with taxes as the #1 problem and government regulation as #2. Poor sales comes in at a distant third. Bill Dunkelberg is a limited government guy, so take his interpretation of the data with that in mind, but still it does speak to a bifurcation in the market, where the big S&P 500 names are doing fantastic and small businesses are struggling.
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