Agency mortgage-backed securities trade simultaneously in a market for specified pools (SPs) and in the to-be-announced (TBA) forward market. TBA trading creates liquidity by allowing thousands of different MBS to be traded in a handful of TBA contracts. SPs that are eligible to be traded as...

We examine the introduction of mandatory post-trade reporting in the TBA mortgage-backed securities market. With post-trade reporting, trading costs fell for institutional investors. Trading costs declined more for investors' trades with peripheral dealers than for their trades with core...

Short selling is risky. Borrowed shares may be recalled and the short seller may be forced to terminate a position early. The stock price may rise forcing the short seller to post additional collateral. Borrowing fees may be increased before the short position is closed. Utilization is the...