Last Updated: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 3:30 PM
PricingDirect has updated its methodology for evaluations of hybrid ARM and fixed-rate non–agency RMBS resecuritizations, and such evaluations will now be classified as HTV starting Monday, July 19. Please see our Evaluation Methodology document on the “Docs & Downloads” tab of our website for more details.

Last Updated: Monday, June 28, 2010 8:30 AM
We are pleased to announce significant upgrades to PricingDirect Online, our web portal. We have enhanced the services available in PricingStudio, our original application, and in addition are launching two new services: Price Validation and Price Challenge.

Price Validation allows our clients to access evaluator comments for all securities which are identified as being “big movers” on a given day.

Price Challenge allows our clients to register challenges and get real-time access to the price challenge process (i.e., receive the PricingDirect response as soon as it is available), and also get statistics on historical challenges.

In addition, the functionality of Price Validation and Price Challenge is available in a lightweight Excel add-in, so clients can access all of this functionality, in real-time, directly from their desktops.

Please contact your PricingDirect sales representative for more details.

Last Updated: Friday, June 25, 2010 1:30 PM
PricingDirect has updated its methodology for evaluations of hybrid ARM resecuritizations. Please see our Evaluation Methodology document on the “Docs & Downloads” tab of our website for more details.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has recommended a normal bond market close on Friday, July 2, 2010. Accordingly, scheduled delivery times for both fixed income and derivative evaluations will be unchanged.

On Monday, July 5, 2010, both the U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed, in observance of Independence Day. PricingDirect will not deliver fixed income evaluations on
July 5; however, we will deliver derivative evaluations on
July 5, 30 minutes earlier than our regular schedule.

On Friday, May 28, 2010, the U.S. bond market will close at 2:00 PM EDT, 1 hour early. PricingDirect will capture the bond market close at that time, and deliver fixed income and derivative evaluations for 'Bond Close' by 3:30 PM EDT. The delivery of fixed income and derivative evaluations for ‘Stock Close' will not change.

On Monday, May 31, 2010, both the U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed, in observance of Memorial Day. PricingDirect will not deliver fixed income evaluations on May 31; however, we will deliver derivative evaluations on May 31, 30 minutes earlier than our regular schedule.

Last Updated: Monday, May 10, 2010 09:12 AM
On May 11, 2010, PricingDirect expects to begin to use new mortgage analytics, including non-agency and agency prepayment models, as well as a mortgage rate model.

On Monday, April 26, 2010, we will release a new Excel add-in that will give our clients access to much of the functionality of the PricingDirect web portal directly from their desktop. Clients using the portal will be able to request evaluations for a group of securities from Excel, and those evaluations, along with Validation Comments and other data, will be returned to them in the same Excel sheet. If you do not currently have access to the web portal, please contact your PricingDirect sales representative.

Last Updated: Monday Mar 22, 2010 02:12 PM
Due to a change in the market convention that is followed by primary dealers in credit default swaps, beginning today we will assume that all CDS tranches conform to SNAC standards. As a result, dirty evaluations will show 1 day of accrual beginning on the roll date (including the current roll: March 22, 2010), and accrual days will increment thereafter.

Last Updated: Monday, Mar 08, 2010 10:11 PM
With the recent announcement of mortgage buyouts from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, PricingDirect plans to change its pricing methodology to reflect new agency- and coupon-specific projected prepayment speeds. These speeds will be determined by PricingDirect in conjunction with the J.P. Morgan research and trading desks. These changes will be instituted on March 10, 2010. Also, to reflect current market conditions, PricingDirect is going to change its settlement date convention to 'same day settlement' from 'next day settlement' on March 22, 2010.

Last Updated: Tuesday, Feb 22, 2010 10:15 PM
PricingDirect now offers its clients an online report of securities with large daily price moves. Accessible via the 'Price Validation' tab at www.pricing-direct.com, this new feature displays the securities in each client's account that broke a daily price tolerance threshold, as well as a comment by the evaluator about the context of each move. Price tolerance thresholds are defined for over 200 separate security types, and are updated regularly as market conditions change. Since the Price Validation report selects only the 'big price movers' in each portfolio, it allows our clients to quickly identify and understand price movement for the affected securities.

Last Updated: Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010 10:11 PM
In response to client demand, PricingDirect announces that it has broadened its coverage of Hard-to-Value (HTV) securities to include dollar-denominated RMBS tranches that are backed by UK, Euro-zone and Australian mortgages.

Last Updated: Monday, Jan 04, 2010 10:02 PM
As a follow-up to our first announcement on this subject, beginning on January 14, 2010, PricingDirect will use updated models for its evaluations of credit default swaps. These changes were developed in conjunction with the J.P. Morgan trading desk.

Last Updated: Monday, Dec 28, 2009 10:00 PM
During the month of January, 2010, PricingDirect will incorporate updates to the models it uses to evaluate credit default swaps. These changes were developed in conjunction with the JPMorgan trading desk. The exact release date will be announced on this website at a later date.

Last Updated: Monday Dec 28,2009 10:00 PM
During the months of January or February, 2010, PricingDirect expects to begin to use new mortgage analytics, including non-agency and agency prepayment models, as well as a mortgage rate model. These models will be deployed by JPMorgan in the near future, and PricingDirect will begin to use them after we calibrate our evaluation methodology to them. The exact release date will be announced on this website at a later date.