That Escalated Quickly

That Escalated Quickly

It would be easy to check in on the bond market at some point on Thursday afternoon and conclude there'd been precipitous escalation in the Iran war or some other big new development putting pressure on bonds (10yr yields up almost 10bps to 4.42+ and MBS down more than 5/8ths). But today's selling was remarkably linear and steady. It began in the overnight session and ramped up at 10:30am ET after a brief correction this morning. If you need a single scapegoat, it's simply "renewed escalation" after yesterday's session raised some hopes for the opposite. Looking a bit deeper, we also suspect the entire market is positioning defensively for a weekend with serious volatility potential. 

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That Escalated Quickly

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.0 97.64 -0.20 10YR 4.460% +0.040% 3/27/2026 8:12AM EST
MBS are now down 14 ticks (.44) on the day and roughly a quarter point from the AM highs. 10yr yields are up 7bps at 4.402. There is no individual, precipitous market mover.  Oil, stocks, and bonds have been trading Iran war escalation all morning.    READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.62% +0.14% 15YR Fixed 6.14% +0.05% 3/26/2026
After a somewhat hopeful day on Wednesday, mortgage rates are back to their same old tricks on Thursday. The tricks in question involve following the broader market reaction to the Iran war which has caused significant and almost exclusive upward movement in interest rates for the entire month of March. Average 30yr fixed rates have been at or near the highest levels in 7-8 months over the past 4 days. Today easily took them to slightly higher levels as global financial...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Friday, Mar 27
10:00AM Mar U Mich conditions Mar 55.8 56.6
10:00AM Mar Consumer Sentiment (ip) Mar 53.3 54 56.6
10:00AM Mar Sentiment: 1y Inflation (%) Mar 3.8% 3.4% 3.4%
10:00AM Mar Sentiment: 5y Inflation (%) Mar 3.2% 3.2% 3.3%
11:00AM Fed Barkin Speech
11:30AM Fed Daly Speech
11:35AM Fed Paulson Speech
Monday, Mar 30
9:20AM NY Fed Bill Purchases 4 to 12 months (%) $6.726 billion
4:00PM Fed Williams Speech
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While the word "regime" is often seen in a geopolitical context, it's also common in financial markets. With respect to rates, the most recent regime involved steady improvement starting in May 2025 and ending 3 weeks ago. Since then, a new regime has been taking over and it kicked into high gear this week. Under the previous regime, bonds (which dictate rates) were operating on the following p... READ MORE