The Chicago 77

3 December 2009 ? Mortgage Bonds opened the day down and have continued to trend lower to a day change of -25bps. Today has been a significant news day as Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve testified in front of a Senate committee considering his re-nomination. In other notable news, the monthly Jobs Report […]

20 November 2009 –Bonds opened up nearly unchanged at positive 3 bps to a current day change of 0 bps. Of the $1.25 trillion allotted to Mortgage Backed Securities, $1.023 trillion have been purchased. The Fed announced that it will unload a record $44 billion in 2-Year notes, $42 billion in 5-Year notes, and $32 […]

16 November 2009 –Bonds opened up at a positive 3bps today to a current day change of 28bps. Investors have patiently awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke?s 12:15 EST talk concerning the economy and its future. Bernanke?s speech highlighted the indication that most economists expect moderate economic growth in the next year, but unfortunately not […]

10 November 2009 ?Bonds are currently at a day change of up 9bps after opening up slightly higher than yesterday. The $40 billion auction of 3-year notes yesterday was successful in strengthening mortgage bonds and the much maligned dollar. Strengthening the dollar has been the focus of foreign and domestic investors who hope to limit […]

9 November 2009 ?Bonds opened today at 6bps and have moved to a current day change of up 6bps. The upcoming week may not provide the same market-changing events such as the first-time home buyer tax credit extension and unemployment figures did last week. Notably, the Treasury will auction off $40 billion in 3-year notes […]

6 November 2009 ?Bonds opened up 12bps and have trended upwards to an impressive day change of up 31bps. The Labor Department announced that unemployment rose higher than expected. The 10.2% unemployment rate for October exceeded analysts’ predictions of a 9.9% rate. This is the first time in 26 years that unemployment has topped the […]

5 November 2009 ?Bonds opened up 19bps today and have remained strong well into the afternoon with a day change of up 18bps. With a day to absorb yesterday?s news that the Fed will keep interest rates near zero, mortgage bonds have bounced back significantly today. It is expected that the Mortgage Backed Securities program […]

4 November 2009 ?Bonds opened today 3bps up and have ceded some ground this afternoon. They ended the day down 6bps. After the highly anticipated Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the Fed announced it will keep the Fed Funds Rate low for an extended period of time. Many economists predict the rates will stay close […]

3 November 2009 ? Bonds opened down 19bps and have somewhat recovered to a current afternoon change of down 12bps. Wednesday marks the Fed?s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Many speculate that the Fed will leave rates at their current levels, but the meetings may indicate when the Fed plans on beginning the inevitable […]

16 October 2009 ?Bonds opened at 3bps today and have increased to 19bps this afternoon. If this holds, we may see the bonds continue to improve in the next few days. The rates have risen sharply from previous lows. Weaker than expected sales from GE and IBM have driven the Dow down 130 points today. […]

14 October 2009 ?Today’s bonds opened down 47bps and, after staging a rally, they were pushed back down. We are currently down 37bps and are testing resistance levels. As recommended in recent posts, locking was the bias since we reached a low point in mortgage rates on 10/2/2009. While rates are up slightly, these are […]

8 October 2009 ? The bond market started out on Wednesday up 25bps, partly due to the retreat in the stock market after a two-day rally on Monday and Tuesday. While bonds retreated during the day, they made a strong move after the successful 10-year Treasury auction. The mortgage bonds are near a very important […]

5 October 2009 ? Today the bonds opened up 9bps and they have rallied most of last week to bring mortgage rates to previous all time lows once again. If you are interested in refinancing, now would be the ideal time to contact your mortgage professional. The economic news has not been so great over […]