Each state was rated on a number of factors in five categories, including affordability, overall well-being, quality and cost of healthcare, weather and crime.

The rebuff Tuesday ends months of deliberations over the cases, which had been fully briefed since late September. The court as a whole gave no explanation for either the rejection or the unusually long delay.

Slow Start as Markets Wait For Inspiration

Bonds got off to a slow start despite the holiday-shortened week.  Yields began in slightly higher territory in Asia, but rallied back to ‘unchanged’ by the start of U.S. trading and to slightly stronger levels by the end of European trading.  The 2nd half of the U.S. trading day brought better selling, but not enough to take bonds into weaker territory as of the 3pm CME close.  More importantly, all of the above took place in a narrow enough range to argue against any deep analysis.

Market Movement Recap

09:59 AM Slow, steady gains all night and into U.S. hours.  10yr down 2.5bps at 4.256.  MBS up 3 ticks (.09).

11:43 AM Modest gains continue.  MBS up 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr down 2.9bps at 4.252.

02:55 PM Weakest levels of the afternoon, but still slightly positive.  MBS up 3 ticks (.09).  10yr down half a bp at 4.275.

03:42 PM More sideways over the past hour with MBS still up 3 ticks (.09).  10yr now down 1bp at 4.271.

Most mortgage lenders set rates for the first time this week on Tuesday (today) due to yesterday’s holiday.  Federal holidays mean banks are closed which, in turn, means no activity in the part of the financial market that determines mortgage pricing.  Even though a majority of the U.S. financial system was closed yesterday, the rest of the world was open.  This occasionally results in volatility in rates on the first day after a 3 day weekend, but today is thankfully not one of those days. In fact, market movement was very calm with bonds improving just slightly compared to last Friday.  When bonds improve, mortgage rates are generally able to move down.  That is technically the case today, but the market movement was so small that the average borrower will not be seeing much of a difference in today’s rates versus last Friday’s. In the bigger picture, rates are still very close to their highest levels in more than 2 months following a series of higher inflation readings last week.  This week doesn’t bring nearly as much economic data, which is a blessing and a curse.  On the upside, this decreases the potential volatility.  On the downside, it also means rates will have to wait for any inspiration to move lower.  The week’s biggest risk in terms of scheduled events is Wednesday’s release of the meeting minutes from the Fed announcement (3 weeks ago).  There’s no reason to expect major fireworks considering the many Fed speeches between now and then, but it always makes sense to consider the potential for bigger moves following any major communication from the Fed.

Two vultures are in a field, eating a dead clown. One vulture says to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?” The last thing you want to hear about your company is that it “preyed upon” customers, which is the opposite of funny. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”: A federal court has issued an order banning the operators of the Home Matters USA mortgage relief scam from the telemarketing and debt relief businesses and requiring them to turn over $19 million as a result of a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Named were Home Matters USA, Academy Home Services, Atlantic Pacific Service Group, and Golden Home Services America, and the owners of the companies, Michael R. Nabati, Armando Solis Barron, Dominic Ahiga (also known as Michael D. Grinnell), and Roger S. Dyer… taking millions of dollars from thousands of struggling homeowners seeking mortgage relief. At the other end of the “beneficial” spectrum, the MBA’s Bill Killmer, SVP for Legislative and Political Affairs, will be interviewed tomorrow on L1’s Roundup. (Found here, this week’s podcast is sponsored by Truv. Truv lets applicants verify income, employment, assets, insurance, and switch direct deposits. Unlock the power of open finance, with Truv. Hearn an interview with Rice Park Capital Management’s Chris Bixby and Candor’s Mark Hinshaw on the recent partnership between the two companies and the future of AI underwriting.)

Bonds were moving with a clear purpose at the end of 2023 before embarking on a small, logical correction at the beginning of 2024.  In terms of 10yr yields, the case looked to be closed on the correction after defending a ceiling at 4.19%, but last week’s data stretched the range more than 10bps higher.  “Data dependence” reigns supreme for the foreseeable future, so what to do in the absence of data apart from hurry up and wait? 
Data is conspicuously absent on this holiday-shortened week with Wednesday’s Fed minutes being the only calendar item that has ever made the list of heavy hitters.  Even then, it’s not clear what the minutes could say that has not already been communicated via recent speeches.  As such, unless we find unexpected inspiration elsewhere, we’re left to watch overhead range boundaries while hurrying up and waiting for the next shoe to drop.
From a technical standpoint, one might be inclined to pass the time by seeing whether the 4.32 ceiling breaks in 10yr yields before the 2 week uptrend (yellow line in the chart below).  These are far from perfect tea leaves, but it would amount to one small vote in favor of the breakout direction (i.e. breaking below the yellow line is what you’d rather see if you don’t want rates to go any higher).

The wholesale lender wants its logo removed from the Facebook page and for Ramon Walker, the creator of the page and owner of Client Direct Mortgage, to pay over $100,000 in outstanding EPO.

The company, which has paired down its operations to concentrate on reverse mortgages, got a similar notice in December.

As the book of business written during the 2020 t0 2022 period enters peak delinquency years, default notices are expected to rise, fourth quarter earnings comments revealed.

Amid an upturn in deposits, banks are searching for ways to put this new cash to work. The traditional option — boosting lending — is hard to do right now. That’s left banks to park more money in high-quality securities that they believe will boost returns without heaping on too much credit risk.