MBS Live Recap: Super Calm Summertime Monday

Today was an exceptionally light day in terms of news, volume, participation, and everything else we normally care about when it comes to market movement.  For all intents and purposes, it was another "unofficial 3rd day of the weekend."  This happens from time to time during summer months--typically on Mondays and less frequently on Fridays.  It wasn't necessarily destined to happen today, but we knew in advance that the week's biggest-ticket events wouldn't hit until Thursday.

With that in mind, we might even wonder how big Thursday's European Central Bank announcement can really be, given that insiders peg the September meeting for a more formal comment on tapering.  While that's a possibility, there's always a risk that investors are simply hungry for clues that may support that September consensus, and are prepared to trade accordingly.

Back to today though... Did I mention it was quiet?  Up until the last 2 hours, we were on pace for the lightest full day of the year, but ended up in 2nd place by just a bit.  That distinction doesn't really matter though.  Bonds were nearly unchanged after trading a narrow range in super low volume.  As such we're waiting on something more substantial before this week's wheels are off the ground.