AI, Construction, Servicing, QC Products; NY Conference Chatter; AI Governance; LO Comp

One of the discussion topics here in New York at the MBA conference is, just like every other conference, artificial intelligence, and one of the questions is, “Who’s accountable if something goes wrong?” Any one of us in capital markets will tell you that, in the case of Freddie, Fannie, investors,

Increasing Signs of Bond-Specific Panic

Ever since the initial 2 week ceasefire was announced in the Iran war, the bond market has adhered to trend channels that align with either de-escalation or re-escalation sentiment. Nothing too complicated here: if sentiment is trending in favor of peace, bonds have rallied. If sentiment is deterior

Bombarded by Headlines, But Little-Changed

Bombarded by Headlines, But Little-Changed Monday's trading session ended up being an exercise in headline-watching, as has been the case on so many days since the start of the Iran war. Today was more active than normal in that regard. The earliest headlines (as covered in the AM commentary) were h

Mortgage Rates Start Week at New 9 Month High, But Just Barely

Mortgage rates hit their highest levels in more than 9 months at the end of last week. Now today, they've edged slightly higher yet again with the average top tier 30yr fixed rate at 6.68% versus 6.65% on Friday. This wasn't necessarily destined to be the case today. In fact the day began with the a