Fixed income

The first-quarter loss ended a two-quarter profitability streak the company hoped to maintain.

Refinancing drove a 75% year-over-year increase in mortgage banking revenue during the first quarter at Flagstar Bancorp as it shored up its operations to avoid other negative repercussions from the coronavirus.

Low mortgage rates increased new orders, but fallout from the pandemic hurt investment income.

Declines in mortgage servicing rights valuations at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo point to the resurgence of a dilemma that came up during the last downturn.

The coronavirus relief legislation could result in private mortgage insurers having to hold more capital, a B. Riley FBR analyst report said.

Two Harbors, a real estate investment trust, sold the bulk of its nonagency mortgage-backed securities portfolio to head off margin calls and refocus on its more favorable agency-MBS investments.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts are taking stock of their financial ability to respond to market shocks and other concerns stemming from the coronavirus.

Impac Mortgage Holdings decided a year ago to emphasize its non-qualified mortgage lending operations and placed the company in position to succeed when the housing market returns to normal.

Bank of America cut its ratings and price targets on several homebuilders and building products companies as the firm is bracing for the "inevitable" coronavirus impact on the U.S. housing market.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 0.5% and the 30-year yield dropped under 0.9%, taking the whole U.S. yield curve below 1% for the first time in history.

Altisource Portfolio Solutions lost nearly the same amount of money as it did for the whole year while it continued the business transition started in 2018.

CoreLogic's fourth-quarter earnings reflect the success of the transformation to an appraisal management company business model accelerated in the prior-year period.

The cancellation by New Residential of a money-losing subservicing agreement should benefit Ocwen's financial results going forward, the company said.

Mr. Cooper Group reported fourth-quarter net income of $461 million, aided by the recovery of its deferred tax asset and a positive mark-to-market on its servicing portfolio.

Fidelity and Essent reported higher year-over-year profits in the last three months of 2019 as refinancing increased business volume, but Black Knight took a hit on its Dun & Bradstreet investment.

First American Financial, a title insurance underwriter and settlement services provider, is acquiring mortgage document firm Docutech for $350 million in cash.

NMI Holdings saw its insurance-in-force grow 38% over the past year as 90% of its clients used its black box pricing module during the fourth quarter.

Ocwen Financial Corp. is on track to become profitable on a pretax basis by the third quarter without any special items enhancing earnings, according to a preliminary release of its fourth-quarter results.

The strong refinance market in the fourth quarter propelled earnings at three different mortgage-related business that also were dealing with merger and acquisition activity during and after the period.

The U.S. mortgage insurance business remained a bright spot for Genworth Financial, as fourth quarter adjusted operating income increased 29% and new insurance written rose nearly 95% over the prior year.