Dec. 24, 2007: Industry news with the 10-yr up to 4.23%

Dec. 24, 2007: Industry news with the 10-yr up to 4.23% Rob Chrisman

According to the Knight-Ridder News Service, the inscription on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed.  The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated: “Wash.  Biol.  Surv.” until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:

“Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of your birds.  I think it was a crow.  I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you it was horrible.”

The bands are now marked “Fish & Wildlife Service”.

• Last week the results from the first auctions under the Fed’s Term Auction Facility (TAF) were good. They attracted lively participation, and led, and could lead, to more normal spreads in key money market spreads, which have narrowed a bit lately but remain wide, which in turn help jumbo spreads. Will it be enough? Most economists believe that a high risk of a recession, with a slow down in labor, will prompt the FOMC to cut the funds rate target to 3% by mid-2008. Many are waiting to see the results of this holiday shopping period, as the US consumer seems to be doing pretty well.
• It was also announced last week that Citizens Bank, Sovereign Bank, TD Banknorth, Webster Bank and Bank of America have created a $125 million fund to refinance mortgage loans for New England homeowners facing interest rate increases. The goal is to shift borrowers with reasonably good credit histories into more affordable mortgages and help them avoid falling behind on payments, which could lead to foreclosure. The program targets homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages due to reset to higher levels in the coming months, but it is not geared toward borrowers already behind on payments. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which helped create the program, estimates as many as 38,000 homeowners across the region could be eligible.
• Michael Commaroto, who is president of Deutsche Mortgage Securities and oversees the mortgage group at Deutsche Bank, is leaving the firm effective Jan. 1, according to industry sources. Last year, DB bought MortgageIT, a fast-growing mortgage banking firm that funded nonprime and prime loans through different production channels.
• ARC Systems, based in Austin, Texas, will close in 5 days after being in operation for 23 years. ARC is credited as the first to introduce an automated underwriting system for subprime mortgages. A few months ago, company founder and chief executive Ed Jones announced that he would be looking for a buyer, but when I spoke to him a month ago none had been found.
• Impac Mortgage Holdings posted a $1.2 billion loss in the third quarter, $790 million of it tied to markdowns on various types of collateral, including derivatives. The company is expected to file for bankruptcy protection within the next two months and is no longer funding nonconforming loans, only agency product.
• Washington Mutual, the Gradient report says, ranked second behind only Countrywide in terms of its reliance on gain-on-sale. Many are of the opinion that both companies have “hidden losses” among loans held by them for investment. While reserves as a percentage of nonperforming loans have been rising, hitting 63.4% as of Sept. 30, Gradient says CW still lag behind peers, including Washington Mutual. Countrywide disagrees, and says that “when all of the relevant factors are considered, our ‘reserves’ are comparable to our competitors.”

This holiday shortened week brings us only three economic releases for the markets to digest, but rates are still worse and mortgage prices are down (worse) by .250 in price. The bond and stock markets are open today, but most lenders are closed and will reopen on Wednesday. There is really no news scheduled for release until Thursday when the Commerce Department will give us November’s Durable Goods Orders, expected +2.5%. This data gives us an important measurement of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders for big-ticket items or products that are expected to last at least three years.  Also Thursday morning is the release of the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for December, expected down slightly. The last report of the week is November’s New Home Sales data late Friday morning, not expected to move the markets. Overall, don’t look for much volatility in rates this week, as many folks are simply on vacation. I hope.

Would a fly without wings be called a “walk”? What was the best thing before sliced bread?