MBS MID-DAY: Mostly Sideways After Inconsequential Data and Yellen's Round 2

Ah round 2!  After a relatively civil and infinitely more relevant chat with the Senate Banking Committee, Fed Chair Yellen is now enduring what can only be described as a nauseating barrage of political grandstanding.  Making things all the more frustrating is the fact that there are a few good questions and collegial attitudes interspersed with the reckless stupidity. 

When congresspeople start talking out of orifices other than their mouths, markets tend to tune it out.  Today is no different.  There hasn't been any salient market reaction to anything said in the Yellen testimony so far today.  It's possible that could change, but certainly not guaranteed.  The only guarantee is that those who stick around to listen to the Q&A will just be angrier and sadder than they are now.

The morning's economic data didn't do much to move markets either, though if anything, it was slightly negative for bond markets.  Those negative impacts have been more than offset by weakness in stocks.  That's not to say that stocks and bonds must invariably be joined at the hip, but amid a lack of other forms of inspiration, bonds have been taking some cues from stocks as the latter responds to earnings releases.