Mortgage-backed securities: Coughs and sneezes fail to spread diseases

Historically, when the US sneezes, Latin America catches a cold, and Mexico comes down with hypothermia. So what on earth is going on in the market for mortgage-backed securities?

In the US, mortgage-backed bonds are imploding, causing losses estimated at well over $100 billion, and raising worries about the viability of the US economy as a whole. That’s much more than a sneeze. But in Latin America, the market in mortgage-backed bonds continues to go from strength to strength.

In July, for instance, Colombia’s Titularizadora priced $192 million-worth of mortgage-backed bonds, denominated in Colombian pesos, at a yield of 10.14%, and with a final maturity of as long as 15 years.

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