“When I was young, I was poor. But after decades of hard work, I am no longer young.” The quip about “The greatest cause of death is birth” aside, we’re all going to die. The question is, “How?” It takes a while for statistics to catch up, but in 2019 the biggest killers of Americans were heart disease, cancer, and being poor. “There were at least 180,000 poverty-related deaths in 2019, new research estimates, surpassing deaths from causes like homicide and drug overdoses.” Unclean air, water, lack of access to good health care are listed. But we, in the residential lending industry, are in a good place to help better people’s housing situation… every day! Loan officers are in a very good position to do so, and today is the last day for them to comment on NMLS Modernization. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Richey May, a recognized leader in providing specialized
Last week my son asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I replied, “I didn’t know he could!” The weather here in Palm Springs, California is much different than that of Anchorage, and yesterday’s Commentary’s mention of the fabled Iditarod prompted Fairway Independent’s Susan Hawkins to send, “I was there when I lived in Anchorage! Here are some photos.” Looks cold, which is to be expected. What is not expected is when a lender or vendor makes headlines. Huh? CoreLogic in the headlines again? Yup. What is also in the headlines is the move in interest rates: The bond market price selloff came after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned in his testimony that the "ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated." So, any loan originator, or lender, praying for lower rates soon is likely to be disappointed. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week is sponsored by SimpleNexus,
Two mentally impaired men died in Suffolk police custody. Investigations protected the officers. Police and prosecutors conducted flawed homicide probes in the deaths of Daniel McDonnell and Dainell Simmons, Newsday found.
REQUIRED READING for anyone who doesn't fully understand why the 4.5 UMBS coupon is far better to follow than the 5.0 intraday (for now).
The morning commentary is typically focused on market movement and broader bond market considerations for the rest of the day. Today, however, there's an urgent need to discuss an often confusing topic when it comes to the bond market's relationship with mortgage rates: which MBS coupon should you be watching?  
In the past , for the most part, that's been easy for a loan originator to determine based on the rates being quoted (as long as the originator understands that MBS coupons can accommodate rates that are up to 1.125% above the coupon).  Prevailing rates consequently suggest MBS coupons of 5.0 and 5.5, but these are absolutely NOT the coupons that should be followed for the purpose of identifying intraday trends and risks.  
You