President Donald Trump said a bipartisan housing bill he has refused to sign was “fine,” seeming to suggest it could become law even as he has withheld his signature in a bid to secure a voter identification law he sees as a bigger priority.

A tour of the technology that banking has run on, dating back to Franklin’s anti-counterfeit measures and the bank-note bulletin that preceded American Banker.

Issuances of new HECM-backed securities dropped off in June on both a monthly and yearly basis, according to a new report from New View Advisors.

The vote to approve the $12 per share deal, which rejected a hostile bid from UWM Holdings, came following several postponements of a special meeting.

A mortgage customer claims his data was compromised in a hack last year at a tax and accounting firm reportedly used by the wholesale giant.

The government-sponsored enterprise clamped down on project review requirements and certain factory-built home appraisals while loosening other guidelines.

The June jobs report is creating an overhang on economist forecasts for interest rates going forward, especially when combined with recent inflation data.

Not Reading Too Much Into Late Day Reversal

Bonds rallied quickly in response to this morning’s jobs report and pressed to even stronger levels by mid-day. That’s the point in the day that most traders (the ones actually working) consider bonds to be “closed.” You’re free to do the same and count today as a win. But in the noon-2pm hour, a decent chunk of the AM gains were erased. We wouldn’t read too much into those and instead view them as a facet of pre-holiday-weekend illiquidity and/or position squaring. This doesn’t imply directionality in the future. It just means we have to wait for next week to get a clean read on market sentiment.

Econ Data / Events

Average earnings mm (Jun)

0.3% vs 0.3% f’cast, 0.3% prev

Continued Claims (Jun)/20

1,814K vs 1810K f’cast, 1821K prev

Jobless Claims (Jun)/27

215K vs 220K f’cast, 215K prev

Non Farm Payrolls (Jun)

57K vs 110K f’cast, 172K prev

Participation Rate (Jun)

61.5% vs — f’cast, 61.8% prev

Unemployment rate mm (Jun)

4.2% vs 4.3% f’cast, 4.3% prev

Market Movement Recap

08:25 AM Weaker overnight with 10yr up 2bps at 4.502 and MBS down an eighth.

08:31 AM Moving back into positive territory after jobs report. MB now unchanged and 10yr down 1bp at 4.47

12:16 PM MBS up 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr down 1.2bps at 4.469

01:48 PM weakest post-data levels with 10yr up 1bp at 4.49 and MBS now unchanged. 

Today is a half day for financial markets, which is a typical feature of a federal holiday weekend. Because tomorrow is fully closed, the big jobs report (normally a Friday affair) was instead released this morning. It ended up helping rates move lower. The jobs report (officially “The Employment Situation”) measures new jobs created (or lost) each month in addition to the unemployment rate. The job count was much weaker than expected and, although the unemployment rate technically dropped, it did so for the wrong reasons (fewer people considered themselves part of the workforce). In fact, if we adjust for labor force participation, unemployment actually moved higher. The jobs report is the most important economic data as far as bonds are concerned. And because bonds dictate rates, there’s a clear connection to the mortgage world. Weaker jobs data = lower rates, all else equal. Today was no exception with MND’s 30yr fixed rate index erasing most of yesterday’s spike. 

Mortgage application activity was essentially unchanged last week, as a modest increase in purchase demand offset a slight decline in refinancing. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 0.04% increase in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending June 26. Purchase activity provided the week’s modest support. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1% from the previous week and remained 3% higher than the same week one year ago, extending a trend of stronger year-over-year demand. Refinance activity eased slightly, with the Refinance Index declining 1% from the prior week while remaining 9% above year-ago levels. “Mortgage rates eased slightly last week as oil prices declined. As a result, mortgage applications increased modestly, with an uptick in purchase activity offsetting a smaller decline in refinances,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Purchase applications remain ahead of 2025’s pace and have exhibited year-over-year growth for almost three months, as prospective homebuyers are finding opportunities in markets with ample inventory and easing home-price growth.” The refinance share of mortgage activity edged down to 41.4% from 41.5%, while the ARM share declined to 7.6% , its lowest level since January. Government-backed application shares were mixed. FHA share decreased to 16.9% from 17.9%, while VA share increased to 12.9% from 12.3%. USDA share slipped to 0.4% from 0.5%.