Archive → February, 2011
Monday Mania – Go Packers!
Well it is the Monday following the Super Bowl and we are all stuck dragging ourselves out of bed and trudging off to work. Based on some of the holidays that we celebrate, I am totally in support of turning this weekend into a 3 day affair and declaring post Super Bowl Monday as a national holiday!
Friday’s employment report caused quite the ripple on the mortgage rate markets and we saw more negative price movement on bonds and continued upward pressure on interest rates. The base rate (0 point price option) for a 30 year fixed conforming is now pushing the 5.000% mark for the first time in quite a while. The economic calendar does not indicate much rate relief this week so we expect rates to remain in the current range before we hopefully settle back down to the sub 5.000% range. On the calendar for this week is:
This Week’s Economic Calendar:
Today;
3:00 pm Dec consumer credit (+$2.5B)
Tuesday;
1:00 pm $32B 3 yr note auction
Wednesday;
7:00 am Weekly MBA mortgage applications
1:00 PM $24B 10 yr note auction
Thursday;
8:30 am weekly jobless claims (-2K to 413K)
10:00 am Dec wholesale inventories (+0.7%)
1:00 pm $16B 30 yr bond auction
2:00 pm Jan Treasury budget (-$50.0B)
Friday;
8:30 am Dec trade balance (-$40.7B)
9:55 am U. of Michigan consumer sentiment mid-month index (75.5 frm 74.2)
Overall the unemployment rate dropped from 9.4% to 9.0% however the 36,000 jobs added was far below the expected number and contiues to highlight the weakness in the job sector.
The sell of continues this morning with continued upward pressure on rates. If you are contemplaying a purchase or refinance then it is clearly time to jump off that fence and secure a rate lock before they are out of reach and/or you are priced out of the market.
Have a great week and let’s see if the unseasonal great California weather sticks around for a bit longer!