The Bridgewaters, Massachusetts

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

The price of the FNMA 30-Year 5.0% coupon is currently trading down 1/32 at 101.30 (as shown by the blue line). Remember, on mortgage backed securities (MBSs), as the price goes down, the yield goes up - and so do mortgage interest rates. You might have seen a slight improvement in the pricing of mortgage rates earlier today, and in many cases that improvement has been withdrawn. I expect that mortgage rates will be essentially close at the same level as it was when they opened this morning.

Both the stock and bond markets reacted negatively to the news that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting adjourned with no change in the key short-term interest rates. Mortgage backed securities didn't react as negatively as the stock and bond markets did. The statement that was released this afternoon indicated that the economy is still weakening, but the rate at which it is weakening is slowing. The Fed also said that they expect "inflation will remain subdued for some time." The news about inflation remaining subdued helped mortgage backed securities to not react as negatively as the rest of the market.