Friday - May 2, 2014, 2:00pm ET

Current Trend Direction: Sideways to lower

Float/Lock Bias: Carefully floating on new transactions

Current Price of FNMA 4.0% Bond: $105.06, +12bp

And the survey says - 288K jobs were created in April, well above the 210K that was expected and up from the 203K recorded in March. The number was the largest increase in 2 years. Mortgage Bonds plunged on the news, but have since turned positve. In addition, the Unemployment Rate fell to 6.3%, the lowest since September of 2008.

All was not rosy within the report as it revealed that the Labor Force Participation Rate fell to 62.8% from 63.2% to match a 35-year low. It is estimated that some 806K people dropped out of the labor force, a very worrisome sign. A commissioner from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, "Our analysis of the household survey suggests the labor force decline was mostly due to fewer people entering the labor force than usual, rather than more people exiting the labor force." Talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth!

The gains in payrolls were seen across the board in almost every major sector. Professional jobs rose by 75K while retail, bars and restaurants and construction all posted big gains. Rounding out the report - Hourly Earnings were steady at 0.2%, while the Average Workweek remained at 34.5 hours.

Technically, the 4% coupon was able to rise above the short term highs yesterday, but this morning's action has pushed the price back below those levels only to move higher. With the big event behind us, we will try to float on new transactions. Have a great weekend!

Joe Shamie NMLS # 241432

First Choice Loan Services NMLS # 210764

First Choice Bank NMLS# 177877

866-970-3400 x-5135

jshamie@fcbmtg.com