Fees associated with MBS trades and other services provided by the Fixed Income Clearing Corp. increased Jan. 1. The FICC said the fee hike was necessary due to lower revenues and higher expenses.
Commercial banks and the Federal Reserve pulled back from the MBS market in the third quarter, but the supply of outstanding securities continued to grow. Money-market funds and other investors appear to be picking up some of the slack. (Includes two data charts.)
Investors appear increasingly reluctant to sell their credit-risk transfer notes back to the enterprises at the prices Fannie and Freddie are offering.
Despite rising rates and volatility, mortgage REITs reported a small gain in their retained agency MBS holdings. The industry’s aggregate TBA position was lower, as was non-agency MBS investment. (Includes data chart.)
A market-wide slump in MBS fair market values accounted for most of the decline in reported bank holdings of these securities during the third quarter. And there was a significant increase in MBS held in bank trading accounts. (Includes two data charts.)
AGNC Investment and Annaly Capital Management provided preliminary third-quarter results this week. Book value declined and leverage increased on a sequential basis.