News

Mortgage rates fell nicely to start the week but only after rising rather abruptly in the previous two weeks. That said, short term ups and downs are just a sideshow in the bigger picture where rates have been locked in a pattern of indecision that will ultimately give way to the next big move. There’s a…
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The good news is that last November increasingly looks like the moment when rates stopped surging higher at the fastest pace in 40 years. The not-so-good news is that they still don’t seem sure what to do next. Rates have been able to stop the bleeding due to inflation broadly leveling off over the past 6…
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Interest rates were remarkably calm in the last week of March. The market was in the process of shifting focus from the banking sector back to economic data. It just so happened that last week was light on data. This week was quite the opposite. The first week of any given month often brings several…
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The bond market moved far less over the entire week than it did during a single day last week. Not only was volatility much lighter, but the trading patterns changed as well. At the onset of the recent panic in the banking sector, stocks and bonds shifted into risk aversion mode.  Scary news pushed money…
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While there were no further bank failures this week, there was plenty of concern and speculation about who might be next. Those concerns teamed up with Wednesday’s Fed announcement to push interest rates lower (yes, even though the Fed hiked rates). Meanwhile, two separate reports showed a decline in home prices. Bank Failures Driving Markets…
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There’s certainly a chicken/egg problem when it comes to interest rate news. Is it the Fed’s decisions that move rates? Or do market forces move rates, thus forcing the Fed to react? The answer is somewhere in between. If inflation and economic growth were always positive, low, and stable, the Fed would never lift a…
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