The Institutional Risk Analyst

GS is a securities dealer first and foremost and has no comparative advantage as a bank.

In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we speak to Mike Patterson, COO of Freedom Mortgage.

Many in the Buy Side chorus are looking forward to lower interest rates, but we are concerned that next year could really be about solvency

Is 2023 the year of the Return of the Distressed Loan Trade?

The big news this week starts with the poor showing by Rocket Companies (RKT), reporting a loss for Q3 2022 and a big decline in volumes.

We agree with the assessment by Leon Cooperman of COOP management that this firm is one of the best positioned IMBs in the industry...

We see an at least equal chance that margins will get squeezed for agency and MSR investors before they expand via higher interest rates

As a result of the adoption of "artificial intelligence," the 21st Century investor is mostly a victim in waiting.

Net, net, the dynamics in the market are actually forcing interest rates down

Somehow the folks at UWMC did not take notice of the fact that secondary stock offerings for all issuers have basically disappeared

To paraphrase our friend and fellow mortgage maven Rob Chrisman, ponder a 2022 lending market that’s 75% purchases and just 4.79 million uni

We expect to see a lot more M&A activity over the next 12 – 18 months, as that’s the only way for some players to grow share.

There is, after all, no free lunch for investors when the Fed is serving the thin meal of Financial Repression

The big surge in income and net worth caused by the FOMC last year is rapidly ending. Winter has returned to mortgage land...

The Fed’s chief concern is keeping the Treasury debt market open and functional. Liquidity includes cash and risk-free collateral...

We view RKT's refusal to provide this material information to investors as a significant omission in its public disclosure...