Slippin’ Into Darkness! US Mortgage Rates Decline Slightly As Recession Probability Spikes (Will Fed U-turn From Inflation Fighting To Recession Fighting?)

Despite what Biden and his muppets say, there is a good chance that the US will slip into recession over the next 24 months. And with that, we are seeing a slight drop in US mortgage rates.

Inflation is surging, and The Fed seems intent on “inflation fighting” but may have to pause that fight the impending recession. This is called a “U-turn” although Powell didn’t mention that is his testimony yesterday.

According to Mortgage News Daily, the 30-year fixed dropped below 6% to 5.88%.

Europe is signaling their u-turn to recession fighting as 10-year sovereign yield have dropped over 10 basis points this morning. Australia and New Zealand are dropping hard as well.

Here is the Federal Reserve’s open market committee deciding on the direction of interest rates … inflation fighting or recession fighting?

Hot, Hot, Hot! Mortgage Purchase Applications UP 6% WoW, Refi Applications DOWN -3.1% WoW As Fed Keeps Massive Covid Stimulus In Place (AEI Home Price Index UP 17% YoY In May)

Although mortgage rates have been rising quite fast, The Fed’s balance sheet is only being reduced quite slowly, leading to a continuation of the hot, hot, hot housing market.

But the expectation of Fed rate hikes is causing mortgage rates to soar and borrowers are trying to get buy housing before The Fed chokes off rates.

Mortgage applications increased 4.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 17, 2022.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 6 percent compared with the previous week and was 10 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week and was 77 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) national home price index for May 2022 averaged 17.0%, down from 17.5% a month ago but up from 15.3% a year ago.

So, the housing market remains hot, hot, hot but not mortgage refi applications. But Powell and Company will likely choke-off purchase applications as well.

Mr Freeze! Existing Home Sales Drop -3.39% MoM In May, Median Price Growth At 14.8% YoY, Inventory Rises Slightly As Fed Stimulus Continues

Rising energy prices, rising home prices, rising mortgage rates, declining hope.

But as The Federal Reserve begins to withdraw it Covid stimulus, existing home sales declined -3.39% in May from April.

But like Covid itself, The Fed’s outrageous monetary stimulus is still in place, helping caused median home prices to rise 14.8% YoY. And inventory for sale is rising, but still remains low.

Jointly, Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chair Powell are “Mr Freeze.”

Bitcoin Rallies To $20k As Yellen Confesses That Inflation Will Remain High For 2022 (So, Monetary Tightening ISN’T The Answer??)

US Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chain, Janet Yellen, admitted on ABC’s This Week that US inflation is “unacceptably high”and prices are likely to stick with consumers through 2022, and that the US economy is likely to slow down.

“We’ve had high inflation so far this year, and that locks in higher inflation for the rest of the year,” she said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I expect the economy to slow,” she said, adding: “But I don’t think a recession at all inevitable.”

US inflation accelerated to 8.6% in May, a fresh 40-year high that signals price pressures are becoming entrenched in the economy. Those figures dashed any hope that inflation was starting to ebb, prompting the Federal Reserve to unleash its biggest interest-rate increase since 1994.

Hey, I thought strangling the US mortgage market and housing markets was supposed to cool the inflation rate, Janet.

On the good news/bad news front, cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell to $17,600 earlier today before rebounding to above $20,000 as the expectation of further Fed rate increases diminished (Yellen admitted the economy is slowing).

Yellen ignored rising mortgage rates which is putting a chokehold on the US housing market.

Hey Janet! So you are admitting that Biden’s energy policies AND massive Congressional spending bills ARE helping to drive prices through the roof and that Fed rate increases won’t tame the savage inflation beast?

Opening Hell! The Morning After The Fed’s 75 BPS Rate Increase, 10Y Treasury Yield Spikes +11.5 bps, S&P 500 E-mini Down -1.8% (US Housing Starts Plunge -14.4% MoM In May)

Like in the movie The Poseidon Adventure, we can all sing “The Morning After.”

On the heels of The Fed’s 75 basis point surge in the target rate, the US Treasury yield jumped +11.5 BPS as of 8:30 AM EST. The S&P 500 E-mini futures contract is down -1.8%.

As investors brace for a recession, mortgage rates dropped to 6.03%.

Gasoline prices remain near $5 per gallon, diesel prices are near $6 per gallon and The Fed’s massive balance sheet is still in force.

On the housing front, US housing starts plunged -14.4% MoM in May, the biggest decline under Biden.

While housing starts were down -14.4% MoM in May, single-family detached home were down only -9.16%. It was 5+ unit (multifamily) starts that were down -26.83% MoM.

Good morning peeps! Reality is dawning after the market surge yesterday after investors celebrated that The Fed could have raised rates even more.

Black Monday! 10Y Treasury UP 11 BPS, S&P 500 E-Mini DOWN -2.5% (Mortgage Rate Rises To 5.78%, Bitcoin Keeps Dropping)

Black Monday!

Off to bad start this week. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points at 8am EST while the S&P 500 E-mini futures are down -2.5%.

And then we have this scary chart of mortgage rates. Bankrate’s 30-year mortgage rate is now up to 5.78%.

And then we have Bitcoin. Bitcoin is struggling as The Fed tightens the noose on the US economy with expected Fed rate hikes and a rising US Dollar.

I’ve got a whole lotta anxiety over this week.

The dynamic duo.

Fear The Talking Fed! US Treasury And MBS Returns Get Hammered As Fed Signals Monetary Tightening (Mortgage Rate Rises And 10Y-2Y Yield Curve Flattens To 8.8 Basis Points)

The Federal Reserve is making up for Bernanke and Yellen’s “too slow to remove” Fed stimulus policies (QE1 – QE3) and Powell’s Covid-related QE4. Now The Fed is trying to remove the stimulus in a (misguided) attempt to cool inflation. Remember, the dramatic rise in prices was caused by more than Fed stimulypto, it was also caused by Biden’s executive orders driving up oil, gasoline and natural gas prices and the massive Federal spending bills signed by Biden.

The result of The Fed’s jawboning about undoing Fed stimulypto is take away the punch bowl. But the results are troubling. Both the total return indices for US Treasuries and Agency Mortgage-backed Securities (MBS) have declined dramatically since inflation has been rising (highest in 40 years) and The Fed is expected to crank their target rate by February 2023 to 3.448% (The Fed Funds Target Rate currently stands at 1%). That is almost a 250 basis point rise in the target rate in 8 months.

While the 10-year rate is rising rapidly, the 2-year Treasury yield is REALLY rising fast.

And the yield curve (10Y-2Y) is down to +8.819 basis points as The Fed signals tightening.

And with rising 10 and 2Y Treasury yields, we are seeing the fastest rise in mortgage rates since 1981.

Alarm! Nasty Inflation Report Leads To No-bid For MBS (Duration Risk Has Extended To 7 From <1 On August 2, 2021 With Rising Inflation)

Alarm!

The CPI news on Friday was so awful that it changed the bond market’s view of Fed trajectory, and the weakest sector broke. In bond jargon, MBS went “no-bid.” No buyers for MBS. Then a few posted prices beyond borrower demand, not wanting to buy except at penalty prices. (Courtesy of Cherry Creek Mortgage)

Despite what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said, Friday’s inflation report demonstrated that inflation is no longer transitory. And with that realization, there was a dearth of bidders for Agency Mortgage-backed Securities (Agency MBS) on Friday.

As a result, agency MBS 2.5% dropped to under $90 as markets expect The Fed to keep raising rates to combat inflation.

Duration of the FNCL 2.5% agency MBS has been extending with growing inflation. Duration was under 1 on August 2, 2021 but is now 7 times greater at almost 7.

Note to Yellen: inflation seems be permanent, not transitory. Or at least inflation will remain high for the foreseeable future, crushing the life out of Agency MBS.

Fed Data Shows a Half Century of Moderate Growth in the Fed’s Balance Sheet Through Two World Wars – Then a Seismic Explosion Under Bernanke, Yellen and Powell (Mortgage Rates Rise To Highest Since June 2009)

Wall Street on Parade had an excellent article showing the seismic explosion in the Fed’s Balance Sheet after the housing bubble burst and ensuing financial crisis.

Here is my version of their chart since 2000 where you can seen the seismic shift in the balance sheet (toxic green slime line), particularly with The Fed’s response to Covid. The Fed is signaling a tightening in monetary policy to help reduce inflation (blue line).

But notice that M2 Money Velocity (GDP/M2) is now near the all-time low along with consumer purchasing power.

How BIG is The Fed’s balance sheet? Try more that a third of size of US GDP.

And as The Fed signals its inflation-fighting intentions, mortgage rates have shot up to 5.51%, the highest mortgage rate since June 2009.

Here is a video of the seismic shift in The Fed Balance Sheet, now that they are allegedly tightening monetary policy.

Speaking of seismic shifts, the Atlanta Fed’s Q2 GDP tracker just fell to +0.9%.

The Fed’s noose is tightening on the economy.

Home Price Cost Index SOARS 114.5% Under Biden As Mortgage Rates AND Home Prices SOAR (Labor Market OVERHEATED As REAL Wage Rate Declines)

Instead of President Ronald Reagan saying ““Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” we need someone to tell President Biden and Federal Reserve Jerome Powell to “Stop driving up prices and making housing unaffordable.” Unfortunately, The Fed thinks that raising interest rates will temper price increases — it won’t. But it could tamper home price growth.

So what we are left with is soaring home prices AND soaring mortgage rates, leaving this scary chart. The housing cost index has risen 114.5% under Biden.

Its only going to get worse from here.

Today’s jobs report for May showed that the U-3 unemployment rate remained the same as April, 3.60%. However, that is lower than the NATURAL rate of unemployment of 4.445% indicating that the labor market is overheated. Historically, The Fed has tightened monetary policy by raising rates when this has happened. So, look for The Fed to keep raising rates.

As I have mentioned before, REAL hourly wage growth is negative since March 2021, just after Biden signed his executive orders canceling drilling on Federal lands and cancelling the Keystone Pipeline. Later, he canceled off-shore drilling permits and Alaska drilling. Now we have REAL average hourly wages declining at -2.8% YoY as The Fed has been reducing M2 Money supply YoY.