Brad Cahoone's (mcahoone) Blog

April 26: More condo vs. single family explanation; QRM conjecture; reader input on "ability to repay"    The trivia for the day is, "Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end." I bring this up because there will be plenty of them wagging at the MBA's Secondary ...

US rate markets slightly better this morning but not much; the early trade in stock indexes were pointing to a better open on UBS earnings. The Fed begins its FOMC meeting today concluding tomorrow with the short policy statement at 12:30 then Bernanke's awaited press conference at 2:15.   At 9:0...

April 25: FICO & strategic defaults; older jumbo pools downgraded; Call Report Q&A; production & Ops jobs are out there    In terms of powerful world figures, how does the FDIC's Sheila Bair stack up against Lady Gaga or Katie Couric? ForbesList    For the 1st quarter, the big four banks originat...

A little better start today in the rate markets while the stock indexes early were pointing to another better open at 9:30. More earnings reports late yesterday coming better than expected. At 8:30 weekly jobless claims were widely expected to have declined 22K after increasing 27K the prior week...

April 21: Do Wells' mortgage numbers apply to industry? Sobering MI losses; NMLS Call Report; Startling gov't vs. manufacturing job stats   The percentage of jumbo business that any originator does is, of course, very dependent on location. But what are borrowers thinking when it comes to obtaini...

Apr. 20: Dodd Frank's potential impact on underwriting guidelines; bank earnings continue; Cantor's commercial deal; lender & investor newsLee Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp., was found guilty on all 14 charges stemming from a seven-year, multibillion-dolla...

So much for outlook that markets would likely be quiet this week; after markets closed yesterday more earnings were reported and were better than expected for Intel and Intel's guidance that the outlook is for better earnings going forward.  Intel said yesterday revenue may top analysts' estimate...

Treasuries and mortgage markets began flat today after yesterday's nice improvements. Markets still reacting to yesterday's announcement from S&P that it lowered US debt from stable to negative; not a down grade in the debt rating but a signal that unless our politicians do something real in redu...

April 18: Mortgage employment info & jobs; FDIC activity; FHA changes du jour; lots of investor news - much positive.   Some may want to move to Northern California - MetLife Home Loans is growing its footprint in that area. (MetLife itself is #51 in the Fortune 500 companies, and in 2008 MetLife...

This Week; is Holy Week. Trade likely will be quiet with the religious holiday. Most all of the data points this week are centered on the housing sector; starts and permits for Mar, new and existing home sales, the NAHB housing market index Monday and the FHFA housing price index on Thursday. The...