Still, purchase-mortgage originations fell sharply in the fourth quarter, dropping almost 23 percent from the previous period, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Despite the news concerning a possible sale, PHH’s share price on Wednesday was trading up, but not by much. Its price is still more than $1 below its 52-week high of $26.76.

In a section entitled “Originations: Return to Profitability,” Nationstar mentions “right-sizing operations” to align with volume expectations.

One loan officer based in Southern California said he’s seeing bonus offers made to colleagues, but cautioned: “It’s true, but only if you can prove good volume today – not eight months ago.”

Fed chairman Janet Yellen told legislators: “I think it is really very important for Congress to put in place a new system to address GSE reform. I think we still have a system that has systemic risk."

Orange Capital is a private equity firm that has been gobbling up stakes in PHH Corp. over the past year. A few months back Inside Mortgage Finance first reported that PHH might be a takeover target.

The entire group is moving to the Connecticut-based nonbank from a company called Mortgage Services, a subsidiary of First State Bank of Mendota, IL.

Some analysts believe the $200 billion estimate on flow MSR transactions might be a bit low.

Also, Morgan Stanley recently increased its stake in Arch Capital Group to 6.3 percent. Arch owns CMG Mortgage Insurance, which is being renamed Arch Mortgage Insurance Company.

However, ARMs remain relatively rare in the MBS market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized only $41.6 billion of ARMs for all of last year, about 2.7 percent of their total MBS production volume.