Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying mortgage-backed securities in large quantities.

Insiders revealed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have started large-scale ordering of mortgage-backed securities, entering the market to take advantage of the volatile environment with soaring market volatility and widening bond spreads. These two government-sponsored entities are seizing the opportunity of significant market sell-offs to expand their already large bond and loan asset portfolios. This move is in response to President Trump's directive two months ago to require the two entities to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to boost housing affordability. Their increased holdings may help alleviate the sharp widening of credit spreads in recent months, which has pushed mortgage rates to their highest levels in three months. However, this may only partially offset the widespread market pressure caused by the US-Iran conflict, which has raised borrowing costs, as evidenced by the significant increase in US Treasury yields last Friday.