| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1875.2 | 7.1 | 0.38% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 3175.2 | 11.2 | 0.35% |
| Oil (WTI) | 103.1 | 0.8 | 0.75% |
| LIBOR | 0.227 | -0.001 | -0.33% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 80.15 | 0.107 | 0.13% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.55% | 0.04% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 106.3 | -0.1 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 105.5 | -0.1 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 4.17 |
Markets are higher this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are down. Sorry for the lack of blog posts the last two days, but I was at the MBA Secondary Conference, and there really wasn't much to talk about anyway. We had no economic data on Monday or Tuesday.
Mortgage applications increased .9% last week. Purchases fell 2.8% while refis increased 3.8%. This is a pretty disappointing number given that the 10 year bond yield fell by 10 basis points and mortgage rates fell 5 - 6 bps. Refis accounted for 52% of loans, and ARMs were 8.1%.
Later on today, we will get the minutes from the April FOMC meeting. I don't anticipate anything earth-shattering, but I will be interested to see if the big jump in March activity was a one-time event. Certainly some of the April data (industrial production, capacity utilization etc) has been disappointing. I also want to see what they say about housing, especially credit availability.
Speaking of the Fed, there is a lot going on over the next few days, with many speakers, the Stan Fischer confirmation hearings, and the minutes. Hawk Charles Plosser warned that if the economy improves as forecast, the current taper pace may be too slow.
The MBA Secondary Conference ends today, and it seems like the mood was a little brighter than previous years, despite the difficult conditions in the mortgage business. Non-QM loans are being rolled out strictly as a portfolio product for a few lenders, but there is no talk of securitization or anything like that. The first time homebuyer is still a focus for Washington, and non-bank servicers were put on notice that New York State isn't going away.
Retailer earnings reports are rolling in, and as we have seen, it has been a tale of two markets, with the luxury end (think Tiffany's) outperforming the discounters (think Target and Wal Mart). In home improvement land, the Home Despot and Lowe's both missed earnings. Generally, retailers seem to be missing. Tomorrow we will hear from bellwethers Gap and Best Buy. Again, keep in mind that there will be an asterisk with these results as poor weather in the Northeast and the Midwest depressed traffic early in the quarter.
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