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MTGE

American Capital Mortgage Investment

6/20/2013, 7:36 AM ET

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Wednesday, June 19, 3:13 PM Markets start to fall in earnest as the reality of a tapering and then ending in QE sinks in - even as the chairman is at pains to prove it's anything but a tightening move. The DJIA (DIA -0.8%) is off 145 points as the 10-year Treasury yield soars 15 bps to 2.33%, its highest level in 2 years. Reversing sizable early gains is the mREIT sector (REM -2.3%) - a leveraged holder of the paper the Fed will no longer be buying - with American Capital (AGNC -2%), (MTGE -1.5%), Annaly (NLY -2.2%), Invesco (IVR -2.5%), Two Harbors (TWO -3.5%), and Anworth (ANH -2.2%) leading the way. The greenback (UUP +0.9%) continues to fly higher. 21 Comments [On the Move]
Wednesday, June 19, 8:58 AM American Capital Mortgage Investment (MTGE) declares $0.80/share quarterly dividend, 11% decrease from prior dividend of $0.90. Forward yield 15.7%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 26. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) Comment! [Dividends]
Wednesday, June 19, 7:01 AM American Capital Mortgage (MTGE) gained 2.4% AH following an 11% cut in its quarterly dividend to $0.80/share, an annualized yield of 15.8% based on yesterday's close. Previous: SIster company American Capital Agency cuts dividend 16%. (PR) 1 Comment [Financials, On the Move, Dividends]
Wednesday, June 12, 2:53 PM Treasurys (TLT -1.2%) fail to catch a bid even as the Dow drops triple digits. Panicky action continues in income favorites (REM -1.3%), notably Armour Residential (ARR -4.7%), where the selling has now spread to its preferred shares, the series B off 2%. The common is off 28% over the last month. Some others: New York Mortgage (NYMT -2.7%), American Capital (MTGE -2.6%), Western Asset (WMC -3.9%), Annaly (NLY -1.7%), Dynex (DX -2.6%), New Residential (NRZ -3.6%), Ellington Financial (EFC -2.2%). 11 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Friday, June 7, 3:09 PM "I would not overestimate retail investors' knowledge of how this business works," says Scott Ulm, co-CEO of Armour Residential (ARR -1.3%). Income fans love mREITs (MORT -1.3%) but can suffer quick losses as rates rise. "We believe mREITs are not appropriate for most individual investors," says Edward Jones' Kate Warne, warning brokers to steer clients away from the sector. Ulm remains hopeful: "As bonds become cheaper, reinvestment becomes more profitable." Beneath a big rally for the averages, the sector is hit again today: American Capital (AGNC -2.6%), (MTGE -1.2%), Annaly (NLY -1.9%), Two Harbors (TWO -0.9%), Hatteras (HTS -1.9%), CYS (CYS -2.8%), Anworth (ANH -0.9%). 44 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Thursday, June 6, 4:28 PM With interest rate fears subsiding until at least 8:30 tomorrow morning, mREITs (MORT +1.9%) get a breather. Leading higher were American Capital (AGNC +3.4%), (MTGE +1.1%), Chimera (CIM +2.7%), Hatteras (HTS +2.4%), CYS Investments (CYS +1.9%), Javelin (JMI +4.7%), and Annaly (NLY +1.9%). One theme from conference presentations this week: Most have taken advantage of widening spreads to buy - if rates come in, they're set to profit. 11 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Tuesday, June 4, 11:18 AM If you believe California housing, MFA Financial might be your mREIT of choice. Of the company's $5.4B non-agency portfolio, 46.1% of the underlying loans are in California. Next is Florida with 7.9%. MFA has outperformed other non-agency players (JMI, DX, IVR, MTGE) over the last year. Also of interest is the disappearing universe of non-agency MBS - it was $2.25T pre-crisis and now only about $900B. (KBW Mortgage Conference presentation) Comment! [Financials]
Tuesday, June 4, 9:28 AM More from CYS Investments at KBW (previous): The speed (page 9) with which mortgage rates have increased in unlike anything seen even during the financial crisis, says CEO Kevin Grant. He muses over whether Bernanke's May testimony (taper) was confused messaging or an intentional market test. The punishment inflicted on mREITs (MORT) is well-known, but don't forget: Refinance activity will crater - gain on sale windfall to banks may be over, home affordability is now diminished, banks will be pushed to Treasurys over credit risk as the ROE on government paper is now improved. Grant's talk (webcast) is one all mREIT investors will value. 25 Comments [Financials]
Friday, May 31, 12:59 PM Renewed selling hits mREITs (MORT -1.2%) as Treasury yields turn decidedly higher, TLT -0.8%. Getting the worst of it today is Ellington Financial (EFC -3.3%) - a partnership, not a REIT; it's more trading shop, but still leveraged to credit and interest rates. It's recently IPOd mortgage REIT counterpart EARN -1.1%. Also notably lower is CYS Investments (CYS -2.6%), American Capital (AGNC -1.8%), (MTGE -1.5%), Annaly (NLY -1.3%), and Armour Residentail (ARR -1.3%). 15 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 29, 10:01 AM The selling continues in the mortgage REIT space (MORT -3.4%), with one of today's biggest losers Chimera Investment (CIM -3.8%) a curious one as its exposure is credit risk not rate risk. Other tumblers: Armour (ARR -6.4%), New York Mortgage (NYMT -6.5%), Javelin (JMI -6.1%), MFA Financial (MFA -3.4%). There's little bid for American Capital - (AGNC -4.1%), (MTGE -3.3%) - with one trader noting Gary Kain's focus on owning pre-pay protected paper is another bet not paying off as rates rise. 27 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Thursday, May 23, 3:34 PM "Every business is going to have cycles (of) good times and bad times," says American Capital (AGNC, MTGE) CIO Gary Kain, speaking at a conference (transcript) (presentation), and not willing to admit this is a bad time. The reality, he says, is all those Fed purchases haven't tightened up mortgage spreads all that much. "(It's confusing to me ... I mean we didn't expect them to perform the way they did." 9 Comments [Financials]
Monday, May 20, 3:11 PM The Russell 2000 (IWM) cracked 1,000 for the first time this morning, but the small cap sector is far from over-loved by the fund managers who invest in it, according to Credit Suisse's Lori Calvasina - they ended Q1 with cash holdings at a near 10-year high. Indexing (IJR, IWO, IWN XSLV are some others) beats most active management, but Calvasina screened for stocks owned by fewer than 50 small-cap funds with $500M-$1.5B market cap, and with favorable investment ratings. No surprise the answer is heavy on mREITs - MTGE, AMTG, PMT. Also coming up: OMX and WFR. Comment!
Monday, May 13, 1:30 PM For those who've noticed American Capital Mortgage's (MTGE -3%) allocation to non-agency MBS has declined from a typical 30% to 20%, co-CIO Jeff Winkler (he's in charge of non-agencies, Gary Kain does agencies) says (JMP presentation) don't forget Q1's capital raise. The firm rapidly deployed the new funds into agency paper and will over time - as the non-agency market hopefully expands - move that money over. 1 Comment [Financials]
Monday, May 13, 12:43 PM The mortgage REITs are lit up bright red (MORT -1.9%), again led by American Capital Agency (AGNC -3.5%) and American Capital Mortgage (MTGE -3%), with Annaly (NLY -3.1%) not far behind. Yes, the 10-year Treasury yield is a 3 bps higher, but there's also rare action in Fed Funds futures, now pricing in a whopping 50 bps in rate hikes by this time 2016. AGNC presents at the JMP Conference at 2 ET. 39 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Friday, May 10, 2:39 PM Gary Kain-led American Capital Agency (AGNC -2.8%) and American Capital Mortgage (MTGE -2%) lead the decline in an all-red mREIT sector (MORT -1%) today, with AGNC taking out its post-earnings low from last week. On the earnings call, Kain said upward pressure on rates had cooled to start Q2 and book value was headed higher, but markets may not be cooperating. The 10-year yield is up 8 bps today to a near 2-month high. Others: Annaly (NLY -1.2%), Invesco (IVR -1.2%), MFA (MFA -1.8%), Western Asset (WMC -1.3%). 12 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Monday, May 6, 3:50 PM American Capital Mortgage (MTGE -2.9%) was hurt by the Q1 decline in agency MBS prices, but CIO Gary Kain (CC transcript) (presentation) took advantage of a February capital raise by deploying funds into agency paper. As of Q1's end, the firm's agency portfolio grew to $11.026B vs. nonagency holdings of $727M - just 6% of the portfolio vs. about 10% at the end of Q4. Should agencies outperform in Q2, MTGE should be set up to take advantage. Comment! [Financials]