Chris Munson
SVP and Managing Director US Sales and Operations
The Money House

Slightly Stronger Start Mostly Due to Oil. Treasury News Fails to Inspire (Again)

Slightly Stronger Start Mostly Due to Oil. Treasury News Fails to Inspire (Again)

Once again, Treasury is out with news about bond buying plans with two officials saying the Treasury General Account (TGA) could be used to fund long-end buybacks. TGA is Treasury's bank account. It gets money from taxes, Treasury issuance, tariffs, etc. Therefore, any way you slice it, Treasury bond buying = government spending, unlike Fed QE. At best, it can influence the yield curve, but it can't artificially suppress yields overall. This is why the bond market won't embark on a big, sustained rally in response to Treasury bond buying, no matter how big a deal financial media makes of the news. In today's case, it could be contributing to yield curve flattening, but the modest rally seen in the bond market is far easier to attribute to a decent drop in fuel prices overnight.

Latest Video Analysis

Incidental Weakness. Bigger Considerations on The Horizon

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5
99.22
+0.09 
10YR TREASURY
4.690
-0.043 
8/24/2026 1:15PM EST
Once again, Treasury is out with news about bond buying plans with two officials saying the Treasury General Account (TGA) could be used to fund long-end buybacks. TGA is Treasury's bank account. It gets money from taxes, Treasury issuance, tariffs, etc. Therefore, any way you slice it, Treasury bond buying = government spending, unlike Fed QE. At best, it can influence the yield curve, but it can't artificially suppress yields overall. This is why the bond market won't embar...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed
6.78%
+0.01% 
15YR Fixed
6.62%
+0.01% 
8/24/2026
For all practical purposes, Friday's mortgage rates were unchanged versus Thursday's, but if we're splitting hairs, the average lender rose 0.01% to 6.77% for a top tier 30yr fixed.  While many news outlets continue focusing on the mid-week announcement regarding Treasury's bond buyback program, today's bond market volatility was unrelated. Current levels are close to where they were before Wednesday's announcement and that makes sense to anyone who Wednesday's marke...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Monday, Aug 24
1:00PM Treasury Secretary Bessent Speech (%)
Tuesday, Aug 25
8:00AM Jul Building Permits (ml) Jul 1.443M 1.374M
8:00AM Fed Barkin Speech
8:15AM ADP Employment Change Weekly 9.5K
9:00AM Jun FHFA Home Price Index m/m (%) Jun 0.2% 0.3%
9:00AM Jun FHFA Home Prices y/y (%) Jun 2.2%
9:00AM Jun Case Shiller Home Prices-20 y/y (% ) Jun 1.7% 1.6%
9:00AM Jun CaseShiller 20 mm nsa (%) Jun 0.9%
10:00AM Jul New Home Sales (ml) Jul 0.62M 0.628M
10:00AM Jul New Home Sales (%) (%) Jul 1.6%
10:00AM Aug CB Consumer Confidence (%) Aug 91.2 90.8
11:30AM 6-Week Bill Auction (%) 3.645%
1:00PM 2-Yr Note Auction (bl) 69
4:00PM Fed Barkin Speech
Chris Munson
SVP and Managing Director US Sales and Operations
The Money House