Fed hawks are on the war path, sending mortgage rates higher

Today the 10-year yield hit a yearly high of 4.74% and mortgage rates rose six basis points to 6.83% (as of this writing), as all the Federal Reserve hawks came out to play, and they were not taking a page from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s playbook. They want their voices heard loud and clear — and they really want multiple rate hikes. Also, we got more conflict news this morning as Iran shot missiles at U.S. bases and tankers, while Trump discussed possibly blocking land transportation in Iran. While Kevin Warsh is playing with his new task force, other Fed members are running the show, so the markets will get questions from them. Let’s take a look at statements from the three hawks driving the higher-rate agenda at the Fed. Beth Hammack, president of the Cleveland Fed In a statement today, Hammack, whom I am going to call Fed Chairwoman for now, said this:“I preferred to move at our recent meeting because I did not see the current policy stance as appropriately restrictive.”“Given the stability of the labor market, with the unemployment rate near my estimate of maximum employment, I view high inflation as the more pressing problem.”Hammack doesn’t want one rate hike, she wants to take...