Bonds Give Free Preview of Post-Powell Momentum

Bonds Give Free Preview of Post-Powell Momentum

Everyone loves a good free preview, but not all of the bond market enjoyed today's version. It involved reports that Trump was considering firing Powell. Forget the nitty gritty details because markets took it very seriously if volume is any indication (highest since tariff announcement week in April). Those who pay close attention were not-at-all-surprised to see longer-term yields RISING in response. After all, a more dovish Fed could only directly control overnight rates.  This is enough to maybe help 2yr Treasuries and under, but from there on up, bonds price in higher inflation and lower global confidence in the dollar and US Treasuries. Trump later said he's not considering firing Powell, but bonds remained skeptical with 2yr vs 10yr spreads only reversing about half of the mid-day spike.  This shows that traders felt a bit spooked about owning longer term debt in a world where something like this might actually happen, and thus re-allocated toward shorter-term debt for now.  Scary-sounding stuff aside, 10yr yields and MBS both made solid enough gains on the day.  All the drama transpired behind the scenes as far as rates were concerned (apart from a small handful of lenders who repriced for worse before repricing for the better).

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Bonds Give Free Preview of Post-Powell Momentum

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5 99.05 -0.01 10YR 4.466% +0.007% 7/16/2025 8:01PM EST
TRUMP LIKELY TO FIRE POWELL SOON, WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL SAYS OFFICIAL CAUTIONS THERE IS NO EXACT TIMELINE The newswires above are causing a huge explosion of volume in the bond market with the first 5 minutes outpacing the 5 minutes following yesterday's CPI release. 10yr yields have risen, which is to be expected in this scenario (i.e. shorter term bonds/bills would hold steady or improve based on expectations for a more dovish Fed chair but the market would trade the l...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.83% -0.02% 15YR Fixed 6.08% +0.01% 7/16/2025
This morning brought another inflation report. Given the negative reaction to yesterday's inflation data, there was some cause for concern. Thankfully, today's data was more unequivocally acceptable for the bond market and--thus-- interest rates . Bonds improved fairly well into the late AM hours, but then, the drama! Actually, there wasn't much drama for mortgage rates , but behind the scenes, lenders came very close to making mid-day adjustments toward higher rates. ...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Wednesday, Jul 16
12:00AM Roll Date - UMBS 15YR, Ginnie Mae 15YR
7:00AM Jul/11 MBA Refi Index Jul/11 767.6 829.3
7:00AM Jul/11 MBA Purchase Index Jul/11 159.6 180.9
8:30AM Jun Producer Prices (%) Jun 0% 0.2% 0.1%
8:30AM Jun Core Producer Prices MM (%) Jun 0% 0.2% 0.1%
8:30AM Jun Core Producer Prices YY (%) Jun 2.6% 2.7% 3%
9:15AM Jun Industrial Production (%) Jun 0.3% 0.1% -0.2%
9:15AM Fed Hammack Speech
10:00AM Fed Barr Speech
10:30AM Jul/11 Crude Oil Inventory (ml) Jul/11 -3.859M -0.9M 7.07M
2:00PM Fed Beige Book
6:30PM Fed Williams Speech
Thursday, Jul 17
8:30AM Jun Retail Sales (%) Jun 0.6% 0.1% -0.9%
8:30AM Jul/12 Jobless Claims (k) Jul/12 221K 235K 227K
8:30AM Jun Retail Sales (ex-autos) (%) Jun 0.5% 0.3% -0.3%
8:30AM Jul Philly Fed Business Index Jul 15.9 -1 -4.0
8:30AM Jul/05 Continued Claims (ml) Jul/05 1,956K 1970K 1965K
8:30AM Jun Import prices mm (%) Jun 0.1% 0.3% 0%
8:30AM Jun Export prices mm (%) Jun 0.5% 0% -0.9%
8:30AM Jul Philly Fed Prices Paid Jul 58.80 41.40
8:30AM Jun Retail Sales Control Group MoM Jun 0.5% 0.3% 0.4%
10:00AM May Business Inventories (% ) May 0% 0%
10:00AM Jul NAHB housing market indx Jul 33 32
10:00AM Fed Kugler Speech
1:30PM Fed Cook Speech
6:30PM Fed Waller Speech
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Mortgage rates partied hard for most of June and into the middle of last week--right up until stronger economic data killed the vibe. The resulting bounce in rates carried momentum through to the beginning of this week, but from there on out, things were broadly sideways.  That's not too surprising considering the lack of virtually any major economic data this week. Such data is one of the... READ MORE