MBS Live Morning: Last Real Trading Day This Week and Even That's a Stretch

If you've grown tired of hearing about holiday related illiquidity in the bond market or you otherwise are fully up to speed on its implications, you're excused.  For everyone else, there's today's chart of the average spread between MBS bid and ask prices.  It speaks to decreased participation typically seen in Nov/Dec.  Lower participation = fewer buyers and sellers at any given price point.  The net effect is that bonds have an easier time moving in response to any given input.  Beyond that, even if we had decent liquidity, the market would still be waiting several weeks before sorting out the economic impacts of the omicron variant and the expected holiday surge in covid cases.