MacroScope

It’s that time again: Fed watchers are already parsing possible changes to the January policy statement, even before it is released. Goldman Sachs economists in particular have identified one passage ripe for some type of tweak — one that could signal the appetite for continued bond buys:

With Treasury purchases under the new regime already underway, the statement that Treasury purchases would ’initially’ occur at a pace of $45 billion per month will have to be adjusted. If ‘initially’ is replaced with another modifier such as ‘at the present time’ rather than deleted, it would suggest downside risks to the size of     the Treasury program later this year.

1. Since the second phase of Operation Twist just got underway, “it would be strange to announce outright purchases of Treasury securities.” 2. Fed officials have publicly noted that continued purchases of long-term Treasury securities “might compromise the functioning of the Treasury market — and undermine the intended effects of the policy.” 3. San Francisco Fed President John Williams “directly advocated” mortgage purchases and Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen has said that “beyond the Twist extension, ‘it’s more likely that [the FOMC] would do things that would take a different form.’” 4. “Purchases of mortgage-backed securities may be considered less controversial than Treasury bond purchases amidst the charged political environment, just prior to the presidential election.”

The Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday sharply downgraded its outlook for U.S. economic growth and employment, appears to be seriously considering another round of monetary easing. In what would represent a policy U-turn, any third round of quantitative easing or QE3 appears increasingly likely to be heavily tilted toward purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

The idea was recently floated rather surprisingly by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, who normally focuses on regulatory issues. Some analysts had speculated Tarullo might not have broad support, but Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments on the matter during his post-meeting press conference on Wednesday suggested otherwise:

The housing sector is a very important sector. Problems in that sector are a big reason why our economy’s not recovering more quickly. I do think that purchases of mortgage-backed securities is a viable option. Certainly, something we would consider if the condition were appropriate. So the answer is yes, we will certainly look into that.

It was his first speech on the economy in almost three years in office, but Daniel Tarullo did not pull any punches. The Federal Reserve Board governor, who tends to focus primarily on regulation, on Thursday called for the central bank to step up its purchases of mortgage bonds:

I believe we should move back up toward the top of the list of options the large-scale purchase of additional mortgage-backed securities (MBS), something the FOMC first did in November 2008 and then in greater amounts beginning in March 2009 in order to provide more support to mortgage lending and housing markets.

More broadly, Tarullo made a strong call for further monetary easing, arguing quite dovishly that the recovery is still too weak for the central bank not to take further action.

While financial markets are primarily focused on “Operation Twist,” the Fed’s return to buying mortgage-backed securities has helped that market. MBS have outperformed Treasuries and interest rate swaps since the FOMC announcement.

This has yet to translate into much of a drop in mortgage rates for consumers, however. And even if it does, many economists doubt lower mortgage rates can do much to boost home sales and refinancing, helping to put more cash in consumers’ pockets. Banks are reluctant to lend for a variety of reasons, while consumers are reluctant to borrow due to worries about their jobs and the poor outlook for the economy. Homeowners with underwater mortgages remain unable to refinance their loans — barring a sudden improvement in the market or some type of relief from Washington.

As of early Thursday, the current coupon 30-year MBS were 10 basis points tighter in spread versus Treasuries after a 15 basis points tightening on Wednesday, but the average 30-year mortgage rate is down only 3 basis points overnight to 4.10 percent (albeit a record low) according to Bankrate.com.