MBS RECAP: Bond Markets Weaker, but Staying Inside Last Week's Range

The trading day was an insult to anyone attempting to pay any attention today.  Considering it was the slowest day of the year (including early closes ahead of holidays), it didn't take much effort by traders to move prices.

There are two ways to look at today's movements.  On one hand, we could find some solace in the fact that MBS held their ground despite a modest rally in equities.  On the other hand, we could be frustrated that we're not seeing a bigger bounce back.  Actually, there's a third option here which is that it doesn't much matter either way because we arguably didn't see a quorum among market participants today and thus will put more stock in the week's coming sessions.

By way of recapping the market movements that we just established aren't worth recapping, Bond markets started out the day moderately stronger and made a brief push into even better levels.  Just after 11am, liquidity and participation began falling off sharply, and prices turned the corner at the same time.  The losses remained well-contained though a few lenders repriced after 3pm.