April 22, 2020 Headlines

A modest improvement in risk sentiment this morning, is pushing equity futures higher and Treasury prices lower. A slight increase in oil prices is contributing to the more positive tone, as well as an article suggesting the European Central Bank may loosen its collateral criteria to accept junk bonds. The FHFA announced yesterday that servicers will now only have to advance four months of principal and interest payments for GSE-guaranteed loans in COVID-19-related forbearance. After the four-month period, the loan would still remain in the MBS pool during the forbearance plan, and the GSEs would take over P&I advancing. The FHFA had been under a great deal of pressure from the MBA and Congressional leaders to provide relief to mortgage servicers, which was the likely motivation for yesterday’s announcement. On a somewhat related note, the MBA Mortgage Applications Index fell 0.3% for the weekend ended April 17, including a 0.8% decline in refinance applications. The refi applications index has been more volatile in recent weeks (+10% the prior week and -19.4% two weeks prior), and average 30-year fixed rate for the period was 3.45% according to the MBA survey, unchanged from the prior week.

Jason Haley
Chief Investment Officer

Date	Event	Survey	Actual	Prior	Revised
4/20/2020	Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index	-3	-4.19	0.16	0.06
4/21/2020	Existing Home Sales	5.25m	5.27m	5.77m	5.76m
4/21/2020	Existing Home Sales MoM	-9.00%	-8.50%	6.50%	6.30%
4/22/2020	MBA Mortgage Applications	—	-0.30%	7.30%	—
4/22/2020	FHFA House Price Index MoM	0.30%	0.70%	0.30%	0.50%
4/23/2020	Initial Jobless Claims	4500k	—	5245k	—
4/23/2020	Continuing Claims	17000k	—	11976k	—
4/23/2020	Bloomberg Economic Expectations	—	—	46.5	—
4/23/2020	Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	—	—	44.5	—
4/23/2020	Markit US Manufacturing PMI	35	—	48.5	—
4/23/2020	Markit US Services PMI	30	—	39.8	—
4/23/2020	Markit US Composite PMI	—	—	40.9	—
4/23/2020	New Home Sales	640k	—	765k	—
4/23/2020	New Home Sales MoM	-16.30%	—	-4.40%	—
4/23/2020	Kansas City Fed Manf. Activity	-37	—	-17	—
4/24/2020	Durable Goods Orders	-12.00%	—	1.20%	—
4/24/2020	Durables Ex Transportation	-6.50%	—	-0.60%	—
4/24/2020	Cap Goods Orders Nondef Ex Air	-6.70%	—	-0.90%	—
4/24/2020	Cap Goods Ship Nondef Ex Air	-7.00%	—	-0.80%	—
4/24/2020	U. of Mich. Sentiment	67.9	—	71	—
4/24/2020	U. of Mich. Current Conditions	—	—	72.4	—
4/24/2020	U. of Mich. Expectations	—	—	70	—
4/24/2020	U. of Mich. 1 Yr Inflation	—	—	2.10%	—
4/24/2020	U. of Mich. 5-10 Yr Inflation	—	—	2.50%	—

Subscribe Today!

Subscribe to our email list and get the latest articles and announcements from ALM First.

Recent Articles

DDJ Myers Becomes An ALM First Company July 1, 2022
July 1, 2022 Headlines July 1, 2022
June 30, 2022 Headlines June 30, 2022

ALM First offers investment advisory services through ALM First Financial Advisors, LLC, which is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the SEC nor does it indicate that the firm has attained a particular level of skill or ability. The information contained herein does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation for you to purchase or sell any specific security. You are solely responsible for reviewing the content and for any actions you take or choose not to take based on your review of such content.Information contained herein was derived from third party sources as indicated. While such information is believed to be reliable, no representation or warranty is made concerning the accuracy of any information presented. We have not and will not independently verify this information. Where such sources include opinions and projections, such opinions and projections should be ascribed only to the applicable third party source and not to ALM First.Statements herein that reflect projections or expectations of future financial or economic performance are forward-looking statements. Such “forward-looking” statements are based on various assumptions, which assumptions may not prove to be correct. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that such assumptions and statements will accurately predict future events or actual performance. No representation or warranty can be given that the estimates, opinions or assumptions made herein will prove to be accurate. Any projections and forward-looking statements included herein should be considered speculative and are qualified in their entirety by the information and risks disclosed in the confidential offering document. Actual results for any period may or may not approximate such forward-looking statements. No representations or warranties whatsoever are made by ALM First Financial Advisors, LLC or any other person or entity as to the future profitability of investments recommended by ALM First Financial Advisors, LLC.