President
Angel Island Enterprises, Inc
License:
AIE, Inc CA DRE #02095783
AIE, Inc NMLS #1893832

Slightly Stronger Because Not Every Day Can be Weaker

Slightly Stronger Because Not Every Day Can be Weaker

Bond yields have moved almost exclusively higher in May. At the very least, they've been in an incredibly linear uptrend.  Uptrends wouldn't last very long if there wasn't some push and pull (think 2 steps forward, 1 step back).  And that brings us to the best case for today's gains: sellers are taking a breath.  Not every day can be a sell-off.  To be sure, the gains weren't inspired by data or any new fiscal developments. We can attempt to force the mid-day pop to fit a fiscal narrative based on a comment on the Senate's time frame for a vote, but we could just as easily say it was position-squaring ahead of a holiday weekend with traders leaving at lunch time today and not coming back until the middle of next week.

Market Movement Recap
09:25 AM

modestly weaker after spending bill passage, but back to unchanged in MBS now.  10yr down 1.3bps at 4.588

12:19 PM

Nice rebound, perhaps on news that spending bill could take all summer.  MBS up 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr down 6bps at 4.542

04:27 PM

Heading out near best levels with 10yr down 6.3bps at 4.538 and MBS up nearly a quarter point.

Latest Video Analysis

Slightly Stronger Because Not Every Day Can be Weaker

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5 98.24 +0.21 10YR 4.530% -0.071% 5/22/2025 5:00PM EST
The most significant development of the overnight session was the early morning passage of the spending bill in the House. This resulted in only a modest extension of losses in stocks/bonds, mostly because stocks/bonds (mostly bonds) have been pricing this in throughout the week. Yields actually managed to recover into positive territory before the 9:45am ET econ data, and haven't changed much since then.  All in all, an exceptionally underwhelming level of volatili...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 7.07% -0.01% 15YR Fixed 6.37% -0.02% 5/22/2025
Mortgage rates hit their highest level in just over 3 months yesterday with financial markets generally protesting the absence of more serious spending cuts in the spending bill.  Rates care about fiscal spending because higher spending requires higher Treasury issuance which, in turn, pushes rates higher, all else equal. Although the House passed the bill early this morning, financial markets were already fairly well braced for the impact. Now that the Senate is sayi...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Thursday, May 22
8:30AM May/10 Continued Claims (ml) May/10 1903K 1890K 1881K
8:30AM May/17 Jobless Claims (k) May/17 227K 230K 229K
9:45AM May S&P Global Manuf. PMI May 52.3 50.1 50.2
9:45AM May S&P Global Composite PMI May 52.1 50.6
9:45AM May S&P Global Services PMI May 52.3 50.8 50.8
10:00AM Apr Existing home sales (ml) Apr 4M 4.1M 4.02M
10:00AM Apr Exist. home sales % chg (%) Apr -0.5% -5.9%
1:00PM 10-yr TIPS Auction (bl) 18
2:00PM Fed Williams Speech
Friday, May 23
8:00AM Apr Building Permits (ml) Apr 1.412M 1.467M
10:00AM Apr New Home Sales (%) (%) Apr 7.4%
10:00AM Apr New Home Sales (ml) Apr 0.692M 0.724M
12:00PM Fed Cook Speech
2:00PM Memorial Day Weekend
Read My Latest Newsletter
The week began with some challenges for the rate market and a bounce for stocks following the US/China trade deal over the weekend. Stocks held their gains, but rates managed to move back down by the end of the week.  Thursday was the only important day in that regard with rates benefiting from weaker Retail Sales data and a well-received speech from Fed Chair Powell. Friday began on an ev... READ MORE
President
Angel Island Enterprises, Inc
License:
AIE, Inc CA DRE #02095783
AIE, Inc NMLS #1893832