US 30-year mortgage rates rose to 4.32% (Bankrate) as the 10-year Treasury yield broke through the 2% barrier. This is happening as Fed Funds Futures are pointing toward 6+ rate increases over the coming year.
Actually, Fed Funds Futures are pricing in 7 rate increases over the coming year.
At least all is quiet on the commodities front.
So, it appears that Fed Chair Jay Powell will follow-through with numerous rate hikes over the coming year.
I guess Powell is tired of being a low-rate chump instead of a high-rate champ?
The flexible cut of the CPI—a weighted basket of items that change price relatively frequently—increased 19.76 percent (annualized) in February.
If we added the U-3 unemployment rate, we get a MISERY Index under Biden of 23.56%, the highest in modern history. Worse than Carter-era inflation and malaise.
Bear in mind that the traditional use of the misery index is CPI YoY + U-3 unemployment rate, we see that Biden’s misery index is similar to the early years of Obama (following the financial crisis) but lower than the Ford/Carter years.
This has been a brutal week for consumers. With the Russia/Ukraine conflict raging and Congress seems determined to not allow for additional oil and gas production, and Biden’s anti-fossil fuel edicts still in place, we are seeing dramatic price increases in wheat (UP 89.5% since January 1, 2021), WTI Crude (UP 143% since January 1, 2021), and food stuffs (UP 55% since January 1, 2021).
Bankrate’s 30-year mortgage rate has actually been falling the last several days, which is good for prospective home buyers as the 10-year US Treasury Note yield has been declining.
The USD/Russian Ruble cross is skyrocketing and the USD/Euro is doing likewise. Russians visiting the US will find that their trip is suddenly unaffordable (as do many American citizens will its rampant inflation). As Bruce Willis said in “Die Hard,” “Welcome to the party, pal.”
On Friday, the US Treasury 10-year yield declined 11 bps.
And energy prices continue to soar, particularly UK Natural Gas Futures that rose 19.85% overnight.
The US inflation data will be released on March 10th and the consensus is that February CPI inflation will rise to 7.9% YoY.
But even the latest unemployment rate report (3.8%) is signalling that The Fed should be raising interest rates since it is lower than the Natural Rate of Unemployment or NAIRU (4.44%).
And we have the next Fed policy error on March 16th. The Fed dots plot looks like the glide slope for an aircraft, but the message is that rates will be going up at future meetings.
And just for amusement, I present to you the infamous Hindenburg Omen chart that forecast the 2008/2009 stock market correction. Since that correction, the Hindenburg Omen has been flashing “danger” but the only correction was the COVID-linked correction of early 2020. While the Hindenburg Omen is flashing red right now, The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet (green line) has protected against market corrections. Let’s see what happens if and when The Fed decides to remove the epic monetary stimulus.
Its anyone’s guess as to whether The Fed will actually tighten monetary policy.
While Corelogic’s January home price index was hot, hot, hot (UP 19.1% YoY), today’s mortgage applications index for the week ending February 25, 2022 was not, not, not.
Mortgage applications decreased 0.71 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 25, 2022.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.76 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1.16 percent compared with the previous week and was 9 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The Refinance Index increased 1 percent from the previous week and was 56 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
Yes, the mortgage industry is going through some difficult times. But not as difficult as trying to understand Biden’s State of the Union address: “Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people.” Huh?
And then Biden’s closing remark was “Go get ’em!” What? Go get whom? The Russians? Inflation? Trump supporters?? I feel like Biden thought the SOTU was the annual Army-Navy football game.
Russia is still attacking Ukraine and I am still seeing stories about actor/comedian Bob Saget’s cause of death. So now for something completely different.
I admit, I follow market data to get a signal of what is happening to mortgage rates and I got one. With Putin and Russia invading Ukraine, markets are in turmoil
WTI Crude is up 8.14% this morning, Brent Crude is up 8.45% and NBP (UK) Natural gas is up 40%.
Europe is having a bad day equity market-wise. Eurostoxx 50 was down 4.92%. The US Dow is braced for a 2.5% opening.
Now to bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield is down 13.3 bps this morning. Sweden and UK are down 10 bps as well.
How about the new Russian front? Ukraine’s 10y yield rose 691.0 bps while Russia’s 10Y yield rose 435 bps.
Russian 5Y Credit Default Swaps (CDS) leaped to a Greek-like 917.
Well, it looks like the sanctions imposed by Winken (US VP Harris), Blinken (US Secretary of State) and Nod (US President Biden because he always looks half-asleep) apparently didn’t work as intended.
It has been almost 14 years since The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke unleashed zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) in late 2008. And Fed monetary stimulypto is still running strong after almost 14 year of monetary mismanagement and asset bubble stimulation.
The Federal Reserve under Bernanke and Yellen raised their target rate exactly once under President Obama before the election of Donald Trump. After Trump was elected, The Fed raised their target rate 8 times, lowered it 5 times. There have been no rate hikes under Biden.
There seemingly never-ending Fed monetary stimulus has resulted in the top 1% seeing their share of total net worth soar relative to the share of net worth of the bottom 50%. But note that starting in 2014 just as The Fed was engaged in QE 3. But the real divergence occurred after The Federal government heaped trillions in fiscal stimulus on top of the skyrocketing monetary stimulus.
In terms of income inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient), it just keeps getting worse and worse.
Let’s see if The Fed actually delivers by reducing their monetary stimulypto.
It is truly a miserable time for many Americans as demonstrated by the Misery Index (inflation rate + unemployment rate). But rather than using the CPI YoY measure at 7.5%, I am using the FLEXIBLE CPI YoY to compute the misery index. And is it ever miserable!
In January, the CORE flexible CPI YoY + U-3 unemployment rate hit a modern high at 22.99%. Or at least since 1967.
Like the movie “50 Shades of Gray,” we have 50 shades of inflation. Examples?
How about hardwood? Producer Price Index for hardwood is up 30.8% YoY.
How about diesel fuel prices? They are UP 40% since January 1, 2021.
How about housing? UP 20% YoY according to Zillow’s home value index.
Global food prices? UP 20% YoY.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Rising energy, food and construction materials are soaring making many Americans miserable.
But Powell and The Fed have promised to whip inflation. Whip it good … with interest rate increases.
In August 1979, when Paul Volcker became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the annual average inflation rate in the United States was 11%. Inflation peaked in 1980 at 14.6%. Volcker raised the federal funds rate from 11.2% in 1979 to 20% in June of 1981.
Inflation (defined as CPI YoY) declined from over 14.6% in 1980 to 3.6% by 1985. But 30-year mortgage rates resumed their upward trajectory and peaking in October 1981 at 18.63 before beginning a gradual decline as inflation was tamed.
But will Powell enact another Volcker moment by raising the target rate abruptly?
The bank is joining others on Wall Street in ramping up bets for faster policy tightening, after U.S. consumer prices posted the biggest jump since 1982 in January. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is forecasting seven hikes this year, up from its earlier prediction of five.
“We now look for the Fed to hike 25bp at each of the next nine meetings, with the policy rate approaching a neutral stance by early next year,” the JPMorgan team, led by chief economist Bruce Kasman, said in a research note.
January U.S. inflation readings “surprised materially to the upside,” the economists wrote. “We now no longer see deceleration from last quarter’s near-record pace.”
On inflation, the economists said a “feedback loop” may be taking hold between strong growth, cost pressures, and private sector behavior that will continue even as the intensity of current price pressures in the energy sector eventually fade.
Strong growth? 1.3% is strong growth??
Be that as it may, the US economy is at a different place today than under President Jimmy Carter. When Volcker started raising The Fed Funds Target rate, US public debt was still under $1 trillion. It has ballooned to over $30 trillion today.
9 rate increases is above what is being priced in The Fed Funds FUTURES market which is 6 rate increases over the coming year.
With 7.5% inflation, the Taylor Rule suggests a target rate of 15.45%. Talk about “Shock and Awful!”
We are starting to see GOLD (gold) surging and Bitcoin (yellow) falling as The Fed prepares “shock and awful” rate hikes and Biden continues to beat the war drums over Russia invading Ukraine.
If The Fed actually raises rates 9 times and dramatically pares back its massive monetary stimulus, it will be “shock and awful.”
US 30-year mortgage rates are up 100 basis points and climbing since January 4, 2021. Most of the increase has occurred since the turn of the year into 2022. According to the Bankrate 30-year mortgage rate index, the 30-year rate is up 57 basis points just since December 31, 2021 as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rises.
Bear in mind that the REAL 30-year mortgage rate is now -3.2%. Get it while you can!!
Given today’s surprise jobs report, The Fed now has a green light to raise rates.
Confounded Interest - Anthony B. Sanders 
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