
Stocks are flattish this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are down.
The US Treasury auctioned off $39 billion in 10 year notes yesterday, with a bid/cover of 2.59 and a yield of 4.58%. Decent demand, but yields are going the wrong way as the Iranian ceasefire is over.
The FOMC minutes were released yesterday, and they shed light on the new thinking at the Fed. A majority of the participants supported the idea of saying less and becoming more opaque. Transparency at the Fed is really a recent phenomenon that came in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis when the Fed wanted to convince the world it was committed to escaping a deflationary spiral. Things like the post-meeting press conference, the dot plot, economic forecasts didn’t exist prior to that.
On the subject of monetary policy, the minutes gave little indication of where the participants thought policy was headed.
Most participants remarked on scenarios in which inflationary pressures would dissipate and inflation would soon begin to return to 2 percent. In such scenarios, almost all of these participants noted that it would likely be appropriate to maintain or eventually lower the target range for the federal funds rate. Most participants, however, also pointed to scenarios in which, in the context of stable labor market conditions, inflation would remain elevated due to strong AI-related demand, the conflict in the Middle East, or the effects of tariffs. In such scenarios, almost all of these participants indicated that some policy firming would likely be warranted to return inflation to 2 percent. Regarding participants’ individual assessments of appropriate monetary policy under what each participant judged to be the most likely scenario for the economy, many participants indicated that the appropriate level of the federal funds rate would be within or slightly below the current target range at the end of this year. Many other participants, however, assessed that the appropriate level of the federal funds rate would be above the current target range at the end of this year. Participants noted that their future policy actions would depend on incoming information.
To recap: Most participants said inflation could fall. Most participants said inflation could rise. Many participants thought rates could go down. Many other participants though rates could go up. Everyone agreed that incoming information is important.
“I like it. One dog goes one way, the other dog goes the other. And then this guy’s saying, ‘whaddya want from me?’ You want guidance? You get oogatz.

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First time homebuyers underestimate the cost of homeownership, according to a survey from Credible. A total of 73% of first time homebuyers underestimated the cost of homeownership by about $400 a month. They failed to take into account property taxes, homeowners insurance, maintenance and HOA fees. Many of these fees are rising faster than inflation, which is increasing the gap. A total of 35% of these buyers report not having emergency funds for unexpected repairs.

This speaks to the education responsibility that we have in the mortgage industry to make sure our borrowers (especially the young ones) aren’t blindsided when they make a purchase.














