11.6.25 Labor Market Barometer; Servbank's Sharmyn Calhoun on Compliance Management; Bond Yields Bounce

Welcome to The Chrisman Commentary, your go-to daily mortgage news podcast, where industry insights meet expert analysis. Hosted by Robbie Chrisman, this podcast delivers the latest updates on mortgage rates, capital markets, and the forces shaping the housing finance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking to stay informed, you'll get clear, concise breakdowns of market trends and economic shifts that impact the mortgage world.

In today’s episode, we look at the strength of the labor market. Plus, Robbie sits down with Servbank’s Sharmyn Calhoun for a discussion on the importance of technology in modern compliance management. And we close by looking at what contributed to bond yields rising.

Today's podcast is brought to you by ICE. As the standard for innovation, artificial intelligence, efficiency and scalability, ICE is the technology of choice for the majority of industry participants, defining the future of homeownership. 

Transcript

Frequent conference goers or traveling salespeople are obviously concerned about the Trump Administration cutting 10 percent of flights for a variety of reasons. 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents are working without pay. For anyone looking for a job through the Job Board, here’s a pro tip for a question in your next interview: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Answer: “Celebrating the 5th anniversary in your lunchroom of you asking me that question.” Job news, good and bad, is in the forefront of economic and residential news. The Trump Administration has apparently fired a mortgage regulator watchdog and Fannie Mae’s ethics staff. Is AI leading to layoffs or does the U.S. economy just stink? (Today’s podcast can be found here and Sponsored by ICE. As the standard for innovation, artificial intelligence, efficiency and scalability, ICE is the technology of choice for the majority of industry participants, defining the future of homeownership. Today’s features an interview with Servbank’s Sharmyn Calhoun on the importance of technology in modern compliance management.)

Employment, promotions, and transitions

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If you were at Planet Retail, your past customers would already be calling you. With rates at their lowest point this year and a possible Fed cut still up for debate in December, a new wave of refinance opportunities is building fast. Are you ready to capture it? At Planet Retail, you would be. Automated marketing and analytics identify customers ready to refinance and your retention team reviews and routes the qualified leads directly back to you. Because Planet retains most of its servicing, you reconnect first, helping you strengthen relationships and grow your business. Join Planet Retail and turn refinance momentum into lasting success. Connect with Matt Payan, SVP National Production Distributed Retail at 972-898-8577. 

AmeriHome Mortgage, the 2nd largest correspondent investor in the country and 6th largest mortgage lender in the country according to Inside Mortgage Finance, is currently hiring for several key leadership positions and there’s no better time than now to join the AmeriHome team! AmeriHome is seeking a Marketing Executive to lead AmeriHome’s marketing strategy across all origination channels. This is a unique opportunity for a dynamic, strategic leader to help shape and grow the brand as part of the AmeriHome leadership team. AmeriHome is also looking to hire a Senior Director - Underwriting to lead, grow, and empower high-performing credit operations teams that balance sales, underwriting, and risk. AmeriHome prides itself on its supportive culture with a focus on career pathing, mentorship, and growth opportunities. Visit AmeriHome’s careers page to view all open positions, check here to see where you can meet with AmeriHome from 2025 through early 2026, and follow AmeriHome Correspondent on LinkedIn to stay connected!

NewDay USA, a leading national mortgage lending company serving the Veteran community, today announced two key leadership appointments to help lead the launch and expansion of the company's new mortgage offering, NewDay Home. This new program empowers Veterans to purchase a home with no down payment and no money out of pocket for closing costs, putting homeownership within reach. Ken Harthausen has been named President of NewDay Home's Builder Division, and Neil Brooks has been named President of NewDay Home.

Foundation Mortgage has appointed Samuel Bjelac as SVP, National Sales, TPO, “further strengthening the company’s leadership team and expanding its national wholesale lending presence… Bjelac brings more than two decades of experience leading top-performing third-party origination (TPO) and wholesale sales teams at many of the industry’s most respected mortgage institutions.” Congratulations!

The Chrisman Job Board is the go-to platform for employment opportunities across the mortgage industry. For employers, adding a job listing is easy. Simply create an account and drop in your existing application link, or forward the details to our team and we’ll take care of it for you. For job seekers, joining our Talent Community is completely free. Upload your resume to be visible to hiring companies across the industry and stay connected to new opportunities as they go live.

Services, products, software, and tools for lenders and brokers

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Some things don’t just stand the test of time; they keep getting better with it. FirstClose, celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, has spent a quarter century proving that innovation and endurance can go hand in hand. What started as a single-source provider of property data has evolved into a comprehensive end-to-end platform, supporting over 225 lenders and $129 billion in funded loans since 2015. In an industry where technology changes faster than rates, few companies can claim that kind of consistency or impact. As FirstClose marks 25 years, its mission remains as relevant as ever: helping lenders simplify processes, strengthen borrower experience, and turn opportunity into growth. Connect with the FirstClose team to see how 25 years of innovation can help your lending operation thrive today…and for the next 25.

You won’t like this: ~70% of your refi recapture opportunities are scooped up by other lenders or servicers. Why? Nurture tools weren’t designed to sell. Loan Officer Autopilot was. Every day it performs the database sales work that would take an LO 167 hours to complete. From personalized quotes, tailored emails, and conversion follow-through to a dashboard that indicates every single opportunity with volume potential for every borrower in your database. Zero clicks. Just refis on a silver platter. That's how you protect the relationships you've earned and recapture the loans you should be closing. Battle tested. Proven effective. Demo?

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are often used to gauge overall mortgage market conditions, and data from ICE shows their default rates have been slowly trending upwards over the past two years. For portfolio managers and servicers, proactively monitoring conditions like these is paramount to managing potential risks. By combining its technology solutions and rich data sets, ICE helps servicers identify and engage with at-risk borrowers early, streamlining loss mitigation workflows and leveraging API integrations that automate GSE decisioning and settlement. Find out how ICE can help servicers stay ahead in a shifting market from Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE.

In case you missed Floify’s Dynamic AI demo at MBA Annual, or the nostalgic ’90s memorabilia at its booth (PEZ? Yes, please!), here’s what the buzz was all about. Floify’s Dynamic AI transforms efficiency for borrowers and lenders through intelligent automation of document collection, data extraction, and workflows, accelerating and simplifying the entire loan process. Borrowers can upload key documents, such as pay stubs and W-2s, while Floify’s embedded intelligence extracts, validates and prepopulates verified data automatically. The result is a smoother, hassle-free experience that reduces manual input and accelerates pre-approvals. And because Dynamic AI is built directly into Floify’s trusted point-of-sale (POS) platform, it offers lenders seamless connectivity to LOSs, CRMs, pricing engines, underwriting systems and verification services. Lenders, don't miss this opportunity to “Stop, collaborate and automate.”

The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.

Let’s face it, the job market is cruddy… or fine… who knows?

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The U.S. economy is driven by jobs and housing. Per ADP this week, employment at U.S. companies increased by 42k in October after two straight months of declines. There’s a lot of reliance, now, upon state, regional, and private sources for economic data, jobs included. This morning, we learned that Challenger Gray & Christmas tallied job cuts last month at 153k, a notably weak number.

Maybe jobs are shifting from larger companies because the big company news stinks. This week IBM announced that it will lay off thousands of employees, American Airlines announced it would be cutting, as did Frito Lay. Amazon announced that it would cut 14,000 corporate employees, while Facebook parent Meta said its AI unit would get rid of 600 workers, and UPS is cutting back.

CNBC reported, “Layoffs have been announced at companies across the tech, retail, auto and shipping industries in recent months, with executives citing myriad reasons, from artificial intelligence and tariffs to shifting business priorities and broader cost-cutting efforts. Meta, Google, Intel and others have also sought to reduce management layers or organizational bloat in hopes of boosting efficiency.” JELD-WEN, the Charlotte-based door and window manufacturer, will lay off 850 employees across its North American operations. USC is laying off 900. Target Stores has announced layoffs.

Elliot F. Eisenberg, Ph.D., observed, “The recent large layoffs by Amazon, Target, UPS, and others aren’t necessarily alarming. Perspective is critical. The US labor force numbers almost 171 million. Total job separations exceed five million/month, including a million/month who get fired, and slightly over three million/month who quit. Others include retirees, the furloughed, the RIFed etc. To know labor market health, we minimally need data on hires, wages, hours worked, and that’s all unavailable.”

Capital markets: labor, labor, labor

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Set your course for MCT Exchange 2026, MCT’s client conference taking place February 12-13 at the new waterfront venue, InterContinental San Diego. As the Currents of Capital reshape the secondary mortgage market, this premier client conference will help attendees harness the changing flow of opportunity. Immerse in expert market analysis, innovative technology announcements, and collaborative roundtables with industry peers. Attendees can also explore learning tracks tailored to today’s evolving landscape, and connect with lenders, investors, and partners from across the country. From insightful sessions to vibrant networking events, MCT Exchange 2026 is where the future of mortgage capital markets converges. Contact MCT to learn more about attending or sponsoring this landmark event.

Yields rose to their highest levels since early October following stronger-than-expected economic data yesterday, including growth in the ADP Employment Change report (+42k in October) and expansion in both the S&P Global and ISM Services indices; none of those data points support a Fed rate cut in December. Additionally, the Treasury signaled it may increase future note and bond auction sizes, though no immediate adjustments were announced in the quarterly refunding statement.

Today has quite a full calendar, though it will be without jobless claims, preliminary Q3 productivity/unit labor costs, and wholesale trade for September, due to the government shutdown. Prior to the U.S. open, the Norges Bank and BoE both kept their benchmark rates unchanged at 4.0 percent. Kicking off the calendar was Challenger Gray & Christmas job cuts (153k, a notably weak number). Later today brings remarks from no fewer than five Fed speakers and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices slightly better than Wednesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.59, and the 10-year yielding 4.12 after closing yesterday at 4.16 percent.

A man walked into Microsoft for a janitor job. They asked him some questions, gave him a few basic tests, and finally said, “Congratulations, you’re hired. Just leave us your email, and we’ll send you your work schedule.”

“Actually… I don’t have a computer, let alone an email,” the man admitted.

The HR manager frowned. “I’m sorry, sir, but if you don’t have email, that means you don’t really exist in our system. And email communication is essential for how Microsoft operates.”

The man left disappointed, with only 30 dollars in his pocket. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, he bought 20 pounds of apples from a farmer, walked to a busy street corner, and started selling “fresh eco-friendly fruit.”

Within a few hours, he doubled his money. By the end of the day, he’d multiplied it tenfold. That’s when it hit him: maybe he didn’t need a boss at all.

Time passed. He bought a small truck, opened a fruit stand, then a small grocery store. Five years later, he owned a whole chain of supermarkets.

One day, while setting up insurance for his business, the agent asked, “Could I get your email so we can send you all the best offers?”

“I don’t have a computer. Or email,” the businessman replied.

The agent blinked, amazed. “Wait… You built this entire empire without a computer? Can you imagine what you could’ve achieved if you had one?!”

The man smiled. “Yeah. I’d be working as a janitor at Microsoft.”

Visit www.ChrismanCommentary.com for more information on our industry partners, access archived commentaries, or subscribe to the Daily Mortgage News and Commentary. You can also explore the Chrisman Marketplace, a centralized hub connecting mortgage professionals with trusted vendors and solutions. If you’re interested, check out my periodic blog on the STRATMOR Group website. This month’s piece is titled, “Rates Drop, Pipelines Pop: Don’t Let Fulfillment Flop.” The Commentary’s podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

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(Market data provided in partnership with MBS Live. For free job postings and to view candidate resumes, visit the Chrisman Job Board. This newsletter is intended for sophisticated mortgage professionals only. There are no paid endorsements by me. For the latest mortgage news, visit Mortgage News Daily. For archived commentaries, or to subscribe, go to www.ChrismanCommentary.com. Copyright 2025 Chrisman LLC. All rights reserved. Paid job & product listings do appear. This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold, or redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman. The views and opinions in this newsletter are mine alone unless otherwise specifically stated herein.)