evan@evanhitch.com

Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe Friday was very much NOT on the beaten path of typical bond market considerations with most of the selling arguably stemming from Japanese currency intervention. We’ve seen similar episodes in the past, but  today’s installment came with a twist. In addition to Japan confirming it was selling foreign bonds

To be fair, mortgage rates haven’t been far from their long-term highs in over a week, but today’s 30yr fixed index level of 6.83% is functionally equivalent to the actual long-term high of 6.85% seen on July 23rd.   Higher rates are driven by weakness in the bond market. The latter can happen for many reasons.

Home price appreciation remained modest in May, according to data from both FHFA and the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Indices . Although both reports showed annual price growth improving slightly from April, appreciation continued to trail inflation, underscoring a housing market where elevated mortgage rates, affordability pressures, and uneven regional performance continue to limit

Mortgage application activity pulled back last week as higher borrowing costs weighed on both home purchase and refinance demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 6.4% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 24. Purchase applications decreased 4% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted

I am no numerologist, but Freddie Mac’s announcement yesterday, that 30-year mortgage rates are averaging 6.66, caught my attention. Unlike rumors, like the one going around about a Texas IMB buying California IMB, hard, provable numbers are hard to argue with… Like the hundreds of thousands of people every month turning 62. Setting up a

Bullets Dodged We’ve seen our fair share of bonds punishing the market on occasions where bond traders were forced to worry about a significant change in a fiscal or monetary regime (or the absence of a desired change). Wednesday’s reaction to the Fed ran the risk of setting the stage for similar momentum. While it

I was recently doing some bike riding in the Napa Valley and spent some time speaking with a wine maker. She told me that because of the increase in temperatures, growers are buying land to the south and planting vineyards there, nearer the San Francisco Bay where it is cooler. Their livelihood is at stake