The Lede

MarketWatch, Feb. 12, 2016--Riquier, Andrea When it comes to residential mortgages, big banks are waving the white flag. Banks originated 74% of all mortgages in 2007, but their share fell to 52% in 2014, the most recent data available from the Mortgage Bankers Association. And it could go even lower.

CNBC, Feb. 12, 2016--Olick, Diana Mortgage rates are falling because investors are flooding the U.S. bond market. Mortgage rates follow the yield on bonds that loosely follow the 10-year Treasury. Investors are buying bonds as a safety play in a highly volatile and largely negative stock market.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12, 2016--Eaglesham, Jean; Enrich, David American banks have so far escaped the billions of dollars in fines that have been levied by U.S. and British regulators leading a global seven-year probe into interest-rate rigging. That is likely to change.

National Mortgage News, Feb. 12, 2016--Martin, Craig While some mortgage ads during Super Bowl 50 provoked outcry via social media that they were insensitive to the catastrophic impact of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, they also show the marked commitment of an industry that has been slow to adopt technology to move more aggressively into digital offerings.

National Mortgage News, Feb. 12, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad United Guaranty reported pretax operating income of $644 million for 2015 while its new insurance written increased by 21%.

HousingWire, Feb. 12, 2016--Swanson, Brena Another batch of mortgage rights hit the market, with a $2.8 billion Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae bulk MSR now for sale.

Bloomberg, Feb. 12, 2016--Boesler, Matthew The U.S. economy has the momentum to help weather stormy global financial markets and policy makers have many other options before they would consider driving borrowing costs below zero if they need to protect growth, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said.

Reuters, Feb. 12, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia U.S. consumer spending regained momentum in January as households ramped up purchases of a variety of goods, in a hopeful sign that economic growth was picking up after slowing to a crawl at the end of 2015.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12, 2016--Zumbrun, Josh Older Americans are burdened with unprecedented debt loads as more and more baby boomers enter what are meant to be their retirement years owing far more on their houses, cars and even college loans than previous generations.

National Mortgage News, Feb. 12, 2016--Berry, Kate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been selling pools of delinquent mortgages at auction to the highest bidders. Community groups say the Federal Housing Finance Agency should be giving preferential treatment to nonprofits and community development financial institutions.

HousingWire, Feb. 12, 2016--Thompson, Kelsey Whereas household debt increased during the fourth quarter of 2015, repayment rates improved, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.

UExpress, Feb. 12, 2016--Sichelman, Lew You've heard of "zombie homes"--those distressed properties abandoned by financially strapped owners, but not yet foreclosed on by lenders. But how about "zombie debt?"

Richmond Times Dispatch (Va.), Feb. 14, 2016--Little, Andrew R. The first week of February was the annual Mortgage Bankers Association convention in Orlando, where about 5,000 industry professionals from all walks of the commercial lending world converged. The themes were hard to miss: Most conduit lenders made money in the first half of 2015 and then spent the second half trying not to lose it.

HousingWire, Feb. 15, 2016--Simmons, Matt Across the country, state legislatures and appraisal licensing boards are grappling with the decision of whether or not to regulate--and if so, how--Appraisal Management Companies.