Daily Mortgage Rate Lock Advisory

Daily Mortgage Rate Lock Advisory – Friday Nov. 21st

Rate Lock Advisory – Friday Nov. 21st

Friday’s bond market has opened sharply lower, giving back much of its gains from the past two days. The stock markets are showing gains but no major rebound from yesterday’s beating. The Dow is currently up 35 points after falling 444 points yesterday while the Nasdaq has gained 8 points. The bond market is not having a good day, currently down 39/32, as investors shift funds back out of bonds. This will likely push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .375 of a discount point.

Today’s losses effectively erase yesterday’s rally that pushed yields on the major Treasury bonds and Notes to their lowest levels since 1962. As is often the case, the funds will move out of bonds just as quickly, if not faster as they flowed in. The result usually is a spike in mortgage pricing as investors move away from the safety appeal that led to funds being moved into bonds earlier this week.

There is no relevant economic data scheduled for rel ease today. I would not be surprised to see further volatility in the stock and bond markets as the day progresses. This may affect mortgage rates this afternoon if bonds recover some of their losses or fall much further form their current levels.

Next week is pretty busy in terms of economic releases scheduled to be posted but also is a holiday shortened week. Monday brings us the release of October’s Existing Home Sales data that will give us a measurement of housing sector strength. It is expected to show a decline in home resales last month. But look for more details on next week’s data and events in Sunday’s weekly preview of the upcoming week.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… T his is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.

Tags: beating the dow, bond, bond markets, closing, economic releases, existing home sales, existing home sales data, Float, home resales, lock, mortgage rates, refinancing a home, shift funds, treasury bonds, week, yesterday

Daily Mortgage Rate Lock Advisory – Thursday Nov. 20th

Rate Lock Advisory – Thursday Nov. 20th

Thursday’s bond market has opened up sharply as it continues yesterday’s late rally that came as a result of the Fed FOMC minutes that were released during afternoon trading. The stock markets are mixed with the Dow down 41 points and the Nasdaq up 3 points. The bond market is currently up 33/32, but since mortgage bonds have not rallied nearly as much as Treasury Bonds, the improvement in this morning’s mortgage rates is limited to approximately .250 of a discount point.

Yesterday’s release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting did bring us some surprises and led to the selling in stocks and shifting of funds into bonds. The minutes revealed that several Fed members are concerned about deflation (instead of inflation) where prices actually deflate rather than rise. That creates a very favorable environment for bonds and other long-term securities because their future fixed interest payments are worth more down the road. The minutes also showed the Fe d significantly lowered its outlook on economic growth and employment activity, raising more concern that the economy has more room to shrink before stabilizing. This also makes bonds more attractive to investors because slowing economic activity usually means weaker corporate profits that drive stock prices lower.

The Labor Department gave us last week’s unemployment figures this morning, saying that new claims for benefits rose from 515,000 to 542,000 when they were expected to drop to 503,000. While this is only a week’s worth of claims, it does however further support the theory that the employment sector is still weakening quickly. Another favorable note for bonds.

October’s Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) was posted by the Conference Board late this morning, showing a decline of 0.8%.and lowering September’s reading by 0.2%. Analysts were expecting to see a 0.6% drop, meaning that they are expecting economic activity to slow over the next th ree to six months at a quicker pace than many had thought.

There is no relevant economic data scheduled for release tomorrow, but I would not be surprised to see more volatility in the markets. Mortgage rates have not improved nearly as much as Treasury bonds have, but I am expecting to see the improvements in rates slowly continue. Accordingly, I am holding the float recommendations for the time being.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Float if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.

Tags: activity, bond, closing, corporate profits, employment activity, employment sector, favorable environment, Float, fomc meeting, fomc minutes, leading economic indicators, LEI, mortgage bonds, mortgage rates, Thursday, treasury bonds, yesterday