Stronger Start, Weaker Finish

Stronger Start, Weaker Finish

Bonds had a fine morning with overnight gains bringing yields in line with the lowest levels of the past few days within the first 2 hours of domestic trading.  From the 9:30am NYSE open on, bonds began moving in the other direction.  There were no individual, new catalysts for the weakness, and more importantly, it wasn't even a level of weakness that matters in the bigger picture.  Rather, this is the reality for the next few weeks in addition to being the occasional reality on any Friday afternoon after 3pm ET (due to the CME close).  Looking back on the week, the only move that mattered was the sell-off into Wednesday morning.  After that, the unwillingness on the part of 10yr yields to move back below 4.20 means they've been sideways ever since.  It's unpleasant in the moment, but this is nothing compared to what we could see in the coming weeks.

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Stronger Start, Weaker Finish

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5 99.10 -0.14 10YR 4.281% +0.039% 10/28/2024 2:26AM EST
MBS are now down 5 ticks (.16) on the day and 10 ticks (.31) from AM highs.  Lenders who have not yet repriced for the worse are increasingly likely to be considering it. 10yr yields are up 3bps at 4.243.  There is no catalyst for this move other than pre-weekend position-squaring and the absence of any tailwind from European trading.    READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.90% -0.01% 15YR Fixed 6.37% -0.01% 10/25/2024
Mortgage rates reached their highest level of the week on Wednesday and haven't really moved since then.  Technically each subsequent day saw a microscopic reduction in the average top tier 30yr fixed rate, but the average borrower would likely be seeing the same quote all three days. This flat trajectory contrasts sharply with the first two days of the week.  At the time, Monday and Tuesday were cause for concern as there were no obvious catalysts for that level...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Monday, Oct 28
10:30AM Oct Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index Oct -9
11:30AM 6-Month Bill Auction 4.310%
11:30AM 2-Year Note Auction 3.520%
11:30AM 3-Month Bill Auction 4.510%
11:30AM 2-Yr Note Auction (bl) 69
11:30AM 26-Week Bill Auction (bl) 72
1:00PM 26-Week Bill Auction (bl) 81
1:00PM 5-Year Note Auction 3.519%
1:00PM 5-Yr Note Auction (bl) 70
3:00PM Treasury Refunding Financing Estimates (%)
Tuesday, Oct 29
8:30AM Sep Goods Trade Balance Adv Sep $-96.1B $-94.26B
8:30AM Sep Wholesale inventories mm (%) Sep 0.2% 0.1%
8:30AM Sep Retail Inventories Ex Autos MoM Adv Sep 0.5%
8:55AM Oct/26 Redbook yy (%) Oct/26 4.6%
9:00AM Aug House Price Index Aug 425.2
9:00AM Aug FHFA Home Prices y/y (%) Aug 4.5%
9:00AM Aug CaseShiller 20 mm nsa (%) Aug 0%
9:00AM Aug Case Shiller Home Prices-20 y/y (% ) Aug 5% 5.9%
9:00AM Aug FHFA Home Price Index m/m (%) Aug 0.1% 0.1%
10:00AM Oct CB Consumer Confidence (%) Oct 99.3 98.7
10:00AM Sep JOLTs Job Quits Sep 3.084M
10:00AM Sep USA JOLTS Job Openings Sep 7.99M 8.04M
10:30AM Oct Dallas Fed Services Index Oct -2.6
10:30AM Oct Dallas Fed Services Revenues Index Oct 10.1
11:30AM 26-Week Bill Auction (bl) 80
11:30AM 52-Week Bill Auction 3.780%
11:30AM 52-Week Bill Auction (bl) 48
11:30AM 42-Day Bill Auction (%) 4.650%
1:00PM 2-Year FRN Auction (%) 0.261%
1:00PM 7-Year Note Auction 3.668%
1:00PM 2-Yr Note Auction (bl) 30
1:00PM 7-Yr Note Auction (bl) 44
4:30PM Oct/25 API weekly crude stocks (ml) Oct/25 1.643M
Read My Latest Newsletter
Last week's newsletter warned that it was time to start thinking about incredibly high volatility potential due to events in the first few days of November. But as far as interest rates are concerned, the volatility is already here. Rates jumped sharply higher to start the new week in a move that still has market watchers scratching their heads.  Some analysts pointed to election odds as a... READ MORE