| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 2094.8 | -0.6 | -0.03% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 3472.6 | 6.8 | 0.20% |
| Oil (WTI) | 49.96 | -2.2 | -4.18% |
| LIBOR | 0.257 | 0.001 | 0.20% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 94.3 | 0.099 | 0.11% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.07% | -0.01% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 102.2 | 0.0 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 101.4 | 0.0 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 3.89 |
Markets are flattish after Germany rejected a loan extension request from Greece. Bonds and MBS are flattish as well.
Initial Jobless Claims fell to 283k last week, which is a good number given the drop in oil prices. Eventually layoffs will start in the energy patch.
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to 44.6 last week, while the Philly Fed fell and the Index of Leading Economic Indicators ticked down from .5% to .2%.
WalMart reported Q4 earnings that beat analyst expectations. The biggest news out of it, is that WMT is increasing starting wages to $9.00 / hour in April and by Feb next year, all current associates will be making at least $10 an hour, If this is due to market pressures, then that is great news for the economy. If it was due to political pressure (though no one is taking credit so far) then it tells you less. The raise will be part of a larger program to streamline scheduling and other operational issues, and should cost about 20 cents a share over the next year.
The minutes of the Jan FOMC meeting were considered more dovish than expected. Bonds rallied hard on the announcement, as it appears some members are beginning to get cold feet about raising rates this June. Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke are students of the Great Depression and are probably going to err on the side of waiting too long versus tightening too early.
Freddie Mac took down its numbers for Q1 GDP to 2.5% from 3%, raised 2015 origination forecasts to $1.3 trillion from $1.2 trillion, cut the forecast 30 year fixed rate mortgage rate to 3.9% from 4.2% and is predicting 3.9% home price appreciation. Forecasts for home sales (5.6 million) and housing starts (1.18 million) are unchanged. Affordability is still a tale of two Americas, with the NYC / DC / South Florida / West Coast being unaffordable, and the rest of the country being affordable.
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