It was pretty much stimulus as usual at the Federal Open Market Committee this week, as the Fed showed not the slightest indication of when it would begin winding down the third phase of its quantitative easing program, known informally as QE3 when it was first unveiled, but increasingly referred to as QE Infinity by those who emphasize its long, drawn-out nature. The status quo results mean the Fed will continue adding to its agency MBS portfolio at a pace of $40 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion per month, and keep plowing its principal payments from its agency debt and MBS holdings back into agency MBS and rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. Among those voting in favor of keeping the Fed’s pedal to the metal were...

Standard & Poor’s rated more non-agency MBS, by dollar volume, than any of its peers during the first nine months of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. S&P rated $11.65 billion of non-agency MBS issued through the end of September. Although that was more than any of the other four rating services, it represented just 43.4 percent of total issuance in a market that is significantly more fragmented than it was before the financial crisis. Back in 2006, for example, S&P rated...[Includes two data charts]

A rebound in asset securitizations backed by car loans, dealer financing and credit cards fueled a solid 9.9 percent increase in non-mortgage ABS issuance during the third quarter of 2013, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. A total of $42.00 billion of non-mortgage ABS were issued during the third quarter, reversing a sharp decline in new issuance during the previous three-month period. It lifted total production for the first nine months of 2013 to $127.34 billion, a 14.7 percent increase over the same period last year. The biggest component in the market has been...[Includes two data charts]

MBS issuers and investors endorse many aspects of the revised qualified residential mortgage requirements recently proposed by federal regulators, but there are concerns about requirements for other asset classes included in the new risk-retention proposal. Issuers of non-agency MBS, ABS and commercial MBS backed by collateral that doesn’t meet certain qualifying requirements will have to retain risk on at least 5 percent of the deal, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Major industry groups have asked the regulators for more time to weigh the new proposed rule, which set a public comment period that ends Oct. 30. Richard Johns, executive director of the Structured Finance Industry Group, offered...

Investors at the ABS East conference in Miami this week had a positive outlook for most structured finance investment options, such as vintage non-agency MBS, auto and credit card ABS, collateralized loan obligations and esoteric assets. They were less bullish about new jumbo MBS. More than 3,500 people registered for the conference this year including more than 1,000 investors. Jade Friedensohn, a senior vice president at Information Management Network, the event sponsor, said it was the biggest turnout for ABS East since before the financial crisis. “In the short term things are...

A steady decline in single-family agency MBS issuance led to a 13.8 percent decline in MBS and ABS production during the third quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A total of $388.53 billion of single-family MBS were issued during the third quarter, a 15.7 percent drop from the previous three-month period. It marked the lowest quarterly output for single-family MBS since the second quarter of last year, although year-to-date production was still up 9.0 percent from the first nine months of 2012. Every component in the residential MBS market was...[Includes three data pages]

HUD Delays Implementation of Short-Sale Participation Requirement. The implementation of the PFS Participation Requirement, which is found in Mortgagee Letter 2013-23, Updated Pre-Foreclosure Sale and Deed-in-Lieu-of-Foreclosure Requirements, has been delayed indefinitely. All other provisions included in the mortgagee letter remain in effect. Previous guidance on short-sale participation requirements also remain in effect until further notice. FHA to Consolidate Lender ID Numbers. The FHA will consolidate the lender identification numbers of those participating in both the FHA Title I and Title II programs, provided ...

Moody’s Investors Service this week warned of increasing complexity in the structures of new jumbo MBS. However, losses on the deals will only occur in “low probability scenarios” and issuers have yet to bring back all of the non-agency MBS features seen before the financial crisis. Moody’s said complex cash-flow structures in new jumbo MBS can increase risks on senior bonds in the event of high mortgage losses. The features include super-senior support bonds, exchangeable securities, principal-only bonds, and pool interest-only bonds. “These securities pose...

Rates for non-agency MBS and consumer ABS are expected to trend lower after the Federal Open Market Committee pulled a fast one on Wall Street this week by contradicting an expected “tapering” of its asset purchase program. Instead, the nation’s central bank announced it was continuing its ongoing purchases of $40 billion worth of agency MBS per month and $45 billion in longer-term Treasury securities. Prior to the FOMC’s meeting this week, the consensus view was that the Federal Reserve would pare monthly purchases of Treasury bonds by $10 billion and agency MBS by $5 billion beginning in October, according to analyst Isaac Boltansky at Compass Point Research & Trading LLC. “The housing sector has been...

Commercial banks and savings institutions held $165.8 billion of non-mortgage ABS in their portfolios as of the end of June, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call report data. Second-quarter ABS holdings were up just 1.3 percent from the end of March, but it was enough of a gain to establish a new record for the industry. Compared to a year ago, bank and thrift ABS holdings were up 4.6 percent. The aggregate portfolio was...[Includes one data chart]