MBS RECAP: More Traction for Bond Markets; MBS Roll Tonight

By: Matthew Graham

There were no overly interesting headlines or economic reports in today's session to guide market movements.  Instead of taking cues from data and events, traders were left to watch other traders and adjust positions accordingly ahead of tomorrow's FOMC Minutes.  That's basically a complicated way to say 'markets did what they wanted and needed to do for reasons we don't have the luxury of knowing.'

One of the only overt moves of the day came late in the session where Spiky movement in Japanese Yen correlated with Treasuries reaching their best levels of the session (2:22pm). 

MBS prices topped out at the same time with Fannie 4.0s hitting 104-21--a 7 tick gain.  Keep in mind that shortly after the close today, prices will fall into what looks like negative territory due to the "roll" (the day each month, just before MBS Coupons are settled that trading stops on the current month's coupon).  This means the indication for "MBS Prices" will no longer come from April coupons and instead will be based on May coupons.  The trailing month coupon always trades at a lower price.  The appearance of a drop in price is merely a change from viewing the current month to the next month--not an actual dose of weakness.  Market participants are already well aware of the prices associated with the next batch of MBS and there is no effect on rate sheet pricing.


MBS Pricing Snapshot
Pricing shown below is delayed, please note the timestamp at the bottom. Real time pricing is available via MBS Live.
MBS
FNMA 3.0
97-05 : +0-05
FNMA 3.5
101-12 : +0-09
FNMA 4.0
104-20 : +0-06
Treasuries
2 YR
0.3989 : +-0.0001
10 YR
2.6826 : -0.0124
30 YR
3.5413 : -0.0167
Pricing as of 4/8/14 4:38PMEST

Today's Reprice Alerts and Updates
A recap of Alerts and Updates provided to MBS Live subscribers.
1:12PM  :  New Highs Following 3yr Auction (Not Necessarily Because of it); Positive Reprices
9:06AM  :  Bond Markets Weaker Overnight; MBS Back in the Green, but Remember the Roll

MBS Live Chat Highlights
A recap of featured comments from the Live Discussion on the MBS Live Dashboard.
Caroline Roy  :  "when vacating a primary to buy a new one with an FHA loan, can i use the rents from the old property?"
Jason Anker  :  "w/ equity sure"
Caroline Roy  :  "isn't the equity requirement only for FNMA? does fha require equity?"
Matt Hodges  :  "all agencies require it, CR"
Matt Hodges  :  "Freddie requires 2 years management as well, but Fannie does not"
Hugh W. Page  :  "If it's a relocation FHA will allow 12 mos signed lease with proof of deposit and first month's rent received."
Hugh W. Page  :  "From my current guidelines: "Relocations: The homebuyer is relocating with a new employer, or being transferred by the current employer to an area not within reasonable and locally recognized commuting distance. A properly executed lease agreement of at least one year‟s duration after the loan is closed is required. Borrower must also provide evidence of receipt of the security deposit and/or the first month‟s rent.""
Sung Kim  :  "Globex is down"
Sung Kim  :  "no futures trading"
Sung Kim  :  "JPY is getting demolished"
Sung Kim  :  "this has got to be part of this move, cant see anything else?"