Mortgage News

Paradoxical Rally Gets Logical After Retail Sales If yesterday’s PPI-driven rally was a paradox, today’s continuation was quite the opposite.  While it’s not the most reliable market mover among economic reports, Retail Sales can occasionally go big. Today […]

The final two days of the present week weren’t on many bingo cards as of Wednesday afternoon.  At the time, rates were jumping higher in response to inflation data.  That same morning, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed consumer inflation accelerating much faster than expected last month.  […]

In this week’s update on mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), purchases continued a modest retreat but refinance demand improved for the 2nd week in a row. This was just barely enough for the Refi index to hit the highest levels since October 2024. The uptick makes […]

What a difference the past two mornings have made for a bond market that was seemingly on the ropes on Wednesday. After yesterday’s paradoxical (though, ultimately rational) rally in response to the PPI data, today’s morning momentum came down to the Retail Sales report. Bonds were flat heading […]

As rumors of the demise of HMDA reporting swirl, as well as a 50 percent reduction in HUD headcount and actual VA cuts, think about this the next time you go into a grocery store: It’s not like lending is like buying organic meat or produce. More than in most retail transactions, the organic […]

What’s Up With Today’s Paradoxical Bond Rally? PPI may not be as heavy a hitter as CPI on average, but one could make a case for this week being one of the rare exceptions. Strikingly, PPI managed to HELP bonds despite the core annual number coming in […]

Mortgage rates jumped quickly higher yesterday following the higher inflation reading in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Now today, rates have completely erased the move despite a similar report, the Producer Price Index (PPI) seemingly adding fuel to the inflationary fire. PPI is almost never as […]

Capital markets participants around the world breathed a sigh of relief when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s calls for lower interest rates won’t lead the central bank to change its rate decisions. “People can be confident that we’ll continue […]

This morning’s econ data included weekly jobless claims, which came in roughly in line with forecasts, and the Producer Price Index (PPI) which was a bit different.  The month over month change in core PPI was as expected, but the annual change jumped 0.3 above expectations (3.6 vs 3.3).  How can […]

CPI Came in HOT and Bonds Reacted Logically There’s remarkably little else to observe beyond this morning’s initial commentary.  Bonds did exactly what we would have expected based on the sharply higher inflation reading with 10yr yields popping about […]