Artificial intelligence is all the rage in conferences and webinars, and today’s Advisory Angle at 2PM ET, powered by STRATMOR Group. Sue Woodard and Garth Graham break down the biggest takeaways from ICE Experience 2026 and what they mean for lenders right now. The discussion focuses on borrower expectations, AI adoption, and how leading organizations are aligning strategy with long-term outcomes. Tomorrow’s “Mortgage Matters: The Weekly Roundup” presented by Lenders One, has the CHLA’s Scott Olsen discussing how and what independent mortgage bankers are doing in the current AI, regulatory, and origination environment. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by JazzX, the first true end-to-end AI platform built for mortgage. From application to underwriting, JazzX is a new operating model that helps you scale growth, boost productivity, and transform how your team performs. Hear an interview with Moder’s Erik Andersen on the company’s strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to co-build an AI-powered mortgage operations platform.) Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders “AI in mortgage is everywhere, but where is it actually driving real results versus just hype? Join JazzX AI for on Monday, April 20th at 1PM ET/10AM PT for our webinar AI in Mortgage: From Pilot to Production – How Leading Lenders Are Deploying AI Today. We’ll be joined by leaders from across the industry to unpack how they’re prioritizing AI use cases, measuring ROI, and turning early experiments into meaningful impact. You’ll hear candid lessons on what’s working, what’s not, and how teams are thinking about time-to-value as AI adoption accelerates. Reserve your spot today to hear how leading lenders are turning AI into real results.”

Tonight brings 8pm ET deadline for Iran’s response to U.S. demands (opening shipping channels among other things). If there’s no response, Trump has threatened to attack critical infrastructure like bridges, power plants, etc.–a major escalation that would all but guarantee a much longer run of high oil prices (and all that goes with it). Reports of progress in peace talks (or lack thereof) are all over the map depending on who’s reporting and when. If there’s a genuine de-escalation (which could be announced hours before the deadline), you’ll know it based on the market response. If it happens after the close, futures/forex markets would still provide evidence of the market’s reaction. Between now and then, it’s just a waiting game with no clear direction.

The latest government-sponsored enterprise changes include a more flexible sampling and a longer maximum term for some manufactured housing loans, respectively.

The product preserves borrower’s first mortgage, and its potentially lower mortgage rate, without requiring the new monthly payments of a traditional HELOC, FOA says.

The White House’s proposed 2027 budget would slash funding to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the latest in an ongoing campaign from the Trump administration to dismantle the politically popular program.

Mortgage rates rising nearly 40 basis points from early-year lows have pushed some buyers out of the market, even as inventory and affordability remain better than a year ago, ICE Mortgage Technology found.

Lawsuits and probes are ramping up, and some courts have broadened the lending law’s statute of limitations, said Bradley Partner Jonathan Kolodziej.

Holiday-Adjacent Waiting Game

Monday may not have been an official holiday for the U.S. bond market, but it way as well have been. Volume certainly acted the part, which is no surprise considering overseas holiday closures. Headlines and data had a limited impact, at best. In general the market is waiting to see what happens in Iran after tomorrow night’s deadline on Trump’s ultimatum to reopen shipping channels.

Econ Data / Events

ISM N-Mfg PMI (Mar)

54.0 vs 55 f’cast, 56.1 prev

ISM Services Employment (Mar)

45.2 vs — f’cast, 51.8 prev

ISM Services New Orders (Mar)

60.6 vs — f’cast, 58.6 prev

ISM Services Prices (Mar)

70.7 vs — f’cast, 63.0 prev

Market Movement Recap

09:03 AM A hair weaker overnight but rallying into positive territory in early trading. MBS up 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr down 1bp at 4.332

01:05 PM MBS up 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr down 0.7bps at 4.334

03:05 PM MBS up 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr down 1bp at 4.331

New jobs in health care largely drove the gains, while the federal workforce and finance continued to shrink.

Finance of America has not disclosed any incident, but a consumer filed an immediate lawsuit over a lone report of a ransomware gang’s recent hack.