The goal of the Federal Reserve's agency MBS program is to provide support to mortgage and housing markets and to foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally. Only fixed-rate agency MBS securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae are eligible assets for the program. The program includes, but is not limited to, 30-year, 20-year and 15-year securities of these issuers….(read more)

Foreclosure filings and related activities continued to increase in July according to figures released by RealtyTrac. Nevada, California, and Arizona continue to lead the nation in the rate of homes in legal difficulty; one out of every 56 home owners in Nevada is in danger of losing his home….(read more)

Good news on the jobs' front led to an increase in most mortgage rates for the week ended August 13 according to the latest Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey released on Thursday. Short term adjustable rate products were the least affected by the data. …(read more)

Mortgage News Daily has learned that the President of Ginnie Mae, Joseph Murin, is expected to submit his resignation by Monday August17, 2009.Joe Murin was sworn in as the 16th President of Ginnie Mae on July 7, 2008. In Murin's first public press release after being sworn in he stated…."This is a critical time in the housing industry, it is clear that the market needs safety and security and that is exactly what Ginnie Mae offers - reliable mortgage securitization products that are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. As president, I will make sure Ginnie Mae works hard to bring stability back to the industry." …(read more)

All three data reports this morning showed greater declines than expected, with retail sales sinking in June, jobless claims rising in August, and inventories being slashed at the close of the second quarter. Markets sunk on the first two reports, but the reduction in business inventories boosted investor confidence that the economy is ready for a rebound in the current quarter.

Ninety minutes into Thursday’s session, all three indexes have climbed out of the red. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are each trading 0.51% higher at 1,011 and 2,009, respectively, while the Dow trails behind with a 0.31% advance to 9,391….(read more)

Mortgage markets are a sensitive beast. Just the slightest breeze and they’re all shook up. It’s one reason why this blog covers such a wide berth. Jobs, housing, consumer confidence, spending — it’s all relevant. Each moves markets in its own right. And when mortgage markets move, mortgage rates move.

Optimism is in the air. While analysts debate whether the US economy is on the brink of recovery or whether the recession has already ended, real GDP reports from France and Germany, just released, report that both economies were expanding in the second quarter.

“This is further evidence that the worst for the global economy is behind us and sights are now set on recovery,” said Robert Kavcic from BMO Capital Markets. Each nation was expanding at just 0.3%, a minor increase that wasn’t enough to stop the Eurozone from contracting overall (-0.1%), but it’s the first piece of growth since Q1 2008….(read more)

The second quarter 2009 report was released on Tuesday. It reported that, while home prices have continued to fall for the 10th quarter in a row, the rate of decline has flattened significantly.

U.S. home values were down 12.1 percent year-over year to an index average of $186,500. This is a smaller year-over-year change than the 12.4 percent decline reported for Quarter 1 and much of those losses occurred early in the quarter. Prices fell less than 1 percent from May to June…(read more)

The S&P 500 has dipped below the 1,000 level today as all three major indexes have shed more than 1% in the first three hours of trading. A better than expected productivity report did little to boost spirits before the open, and markets extended their losses 30 minutes into the session when it was reported that wholesale inventories were reduced quite a bit more than had been forecasted. Aside from reacting to data, markets are anxious as the Federal Reserve's monetary policy board begins its two-day meeting today.

At 12:30, the S&P 500 is trading 1.21% lower at 995, while the Dow has shed 0.95% to 9,248, and the Nasdaq is down 1.19% to 1,968. All three indexes saw moderate losses yesterday as well, but those two days of losses follow a four-week rally.
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It was a slow yesterday with no fresh data, and markets reacted by edging down following a four-week rally. Today is looking like a repeat performance, as equity futures continue to point moderately south 90 minutes ahead of the opening bell.

But, there are a couple of items separating today from Monda…(read more)