Although the high court order isn’t designed to be the final word in the case, it marks a significant milestone in Trump’s campaign to transform the federal workforce.

California-based Dunmor said it is launching a wholesale division, which will be led by a former Newfi executive.

The move their regulator Bill Pulte announced introduces competition for one metric but charges from three credit bureaus will remain in place.

Correction Starting to Level Off?

Even though very little changed during the course of the trading day, one potentially important thing happened.  Rather than start weaker and continue to lose ground throughout the session, bonds managed to stop the bleeding early and then push back toward unchanged levels by the end of the day. This is the kind of thing typically seen when a corrective trend is running out of steam in the short term. While this doesn’t make the bond market immune from another motivation to sell, it suggests that the market is now open to suggestion from either bulls or bears, and that’s an upgrade from the selling bias seen on Monday.

Market Movement Recap

10:04 AM Moderately weaker overnight with some additional selling early.  MBS down an eighth and 10yr up 3.8bps at 4.419

01:36 PM sideways all day.  MBS still down an eighth and 10yr up 2.1bps at 3.877

03:33 PM Very slight recovery, but very low volatility.  MBS down 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr up 1.3bps at 3.869

Bad news first: mortgage rates have been moving steadily higher in July with the average top tier 30yr fixed scenario rising from 6.67% to 6.81% in just 4 business days.  This isn’t an incredibly abrupt move, but it’s slightly brisk compared to the average day of rate movement. The good news is twofold. First off, we often tend to see slightly brisk movement in the opposite direction after experiencing a consistent trend in the other direction. The month of June was arguably such a trend, and it took rates to their lowest levels in several months.  Secondly, and more simply, apart from the last few days of June, today’s rates are still the lowest since late April.  [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Amid a complete absence of actionable economic data in the new week, stocks and bonds have been left to focus on new developments on the tariff front. It seems like only yesterday that the “90 day pause” went into effect and now, here we are 89 days later with some last-minute edits to the plan. Monday’s news involved letters to multiple trade partners announcing new tariff rates effective August 1st–basically a threat to make a deal or else. The more formal nature of the letters (as opposed to social media announcements) got the market’s attention despite general tariff fatigue.  At the times that stocks were falling, bonds were holding steady.  And when stocks held steady, bonds were losing ground. 

We’re in the summer travel season. TSA will be eliminating its “shoes off” policy, and many will be sampling today’s rollout of Spicy McMuffin breakfast sandwiches at Mickey D’s. My cat Myrtle was never a fan of the TSA, believing, perhaps, given her cynical nature, that their staff was filled with Walmart security guard rejects. (Did you know that you can opt out of the TSA taking your photograph every time you go through security, with no consequences? You should.) If you travel to Washington, D.C., know that a) there are periods between the D and the C, and b) Fed Chair Jerome Powell heads up spending $2.5 billion renovating the D.C. office, with a “b.” The chances of a Fed rate cut in at the next policy meeting in late July plunged to just 5 percent following the jobs report because the Fed is seen as unlikely to lower its policy rate until the labor market weakens. On today’s episode of Capital Markets Wrap presented by Polly, panelists break down the latest jobs data and how the market responded, including what it could mean for the Fed’s next move. They’ll also cover current lock volume trends, along with a look at recent headlines around appraisal fraud in Baltimore and the importance of maintaining a diversified investor base. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Truework, the only all-in-one, automated VOIEA platform that helps mortgage providers achieve up to 50% cost savings with an industry leading 75% completion rate. Today’s has an interview with Polunsky Beitel Green’s Peter Idziak on the recent Senate Parliamentarian’s decision blocking efforts to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau via reconciliation and the implications for the agency’s independence and the broader mortgage lending framework.)

New research from the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and San Francisco says markets put the odds of zero interest rates lower today than in the recent past, but economic uncertainty raises the potential for drastic cuts in the “medium to long term.”

Following deadly flash floods in Texas, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency allowed national banks to close branches for safety.

Deadly flash flooding in Texas serves as a reminder of the tactics scammers and fraudsters use against both victims and charitable onlookers.