Below are stock and bond closes for a wild day.

A lot of economists are saying today’s S&P’s negative outlook for U.S. debt is ‘no big deal’ but markets are reacting otherwise. Stocks are down sharply (Dow -212, S&P 500 -21) and bonds are continuing Friday’s big rally (FNMA 30yr 4% coupon +31 basis points, 10yr Note +34 basis points). Our WeeklyBasis report Saturday predicted [...]

We mostly focus on rate and bond markets, but it’s worth noting the opposite side of the trade today. Rates rose about .2% today because manufacturing inflation spooked bond markets, but the inflation is from a good trend of growth (this table shows growth trend). Stocks liked the news, with the Dow ending at 12,040, [...]

Markets often overreact. Like last May 6 when the Dow dropped 1000 points after Greece’s parliament voted on measures to control it’s out of control debt. Or even like today when rates rose .2% after New Home Sales rose 17.5%, making mortgage bond traders think the economy is fixed. It’s enough to drive you insane. [...]

Zero-point rates on 30yr fixed Conforming loans (up to $729k) ended last week at their lowest levels since official records began in 1971, and Jumbo 30yr fixed loans (above $729k) touched the low-5% range. By the time last week’s rate levels are officially announced by Freddie Mac on May 27, rates are likely to be [...]

The Economist’s cover story headline from last week—Acropolis Now— sounds all the more fitting today as Greece citizens and police clashed in the streets, and the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq all erased most of their 2010 gains, and safer bond investments rallied: mortgage bonds are up 43bps, 10yr Treasury bonds up 115bps. When bonds rally [...]

Greece fallout freaks markets: Dow down 681 Mortgage bonds up 74bps 10yr Note up 187bps to yield 3.4%

Still Hard Times For Jumbo MBS Why wouldn’t investors want to gobble up securities made up of jumbo loans? Well, how about delinquencies? In a story out of Business Week, “US prime jumbo mortgages at least 60 days late backing securities reached 9.6% in January from 9.2% in December, the 32nd straight increase for “serious [...]

Someone sent the graph below comparing stock indices to San Francisco Real Estate form 2000 to present. Obviously there are a lot of assumptions here and this cannot dictate any individual’s property investment decision, but worthy of debate. One of The Basis Point’s investment management contributors had this to say about it: Makes me want [...]

Rate/Market Update Rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $729k are net even this week after building on last week’s .25% gains then giving up ground today. Rates for jumbo loans above $729k remain steady because those rates don’t trade all day every day like conforming loan rates do. Tame [...]