User: Brian Ripley: CAD Debt & Credit: Picture

Here's Mother Nature... next comes Mr Margin. Yesterday Canadian mortgage lenders hiked their posted lending rates up 10 to 30 beeps depending on the loan. The last "posted" rate move was 5 months ago of 10 bps down and 10 months before that it was 10 bps down. A fearful symmetry is at work with all eyes on the bond markets. In any event we have had ZIRP for well over 4 years so this hike in retail rates is welcomed by savers to the dismay of borrowers and reflects perhaps a twitch of restlessness in the herd. Or maybe it's just a good time to widen the spread and sell some mortgage paper to get it off the books. More at www.chpc.biz