Friday, September 17th
Friday’s bond market has opened in negative territory, extending yesterday’s post-Retail Sales report selling. Stocks are also showing more losses with the Dow down 109 points and the Nasdaq down 88 points. The bond market is currently down 11/32 (1.37%), which should push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point if compared to Thursday’s early pricing.
11/32
Bonds
30 yr - 1.37%
109
Dow
34,642
88
NASDAQ
15,093
Trailing 90 Days - National Average
Medium
Neutral
Today’s sole relevant economic report was September’s Index of Consumer Sentiment from the University of Michigan at 10:00 AM ET. It came in at 71.0, up a little from August’s 70.3 but lower than forecasts of 72.0. This means surveyed consumers are a little more optimistic about their own financial situations this month than last. Since it was an increase but lower than expected, we can consider the data neutral for bonds and mortgage rates. The revised reading for this month will come in two weeks.
High
Unknown
Next week’s economic releases are mostly housing-related reports with none of them considered to be highly important. There also is a Treasury auction scheduled that may affect rates during afternoon trading one day. However, the most important day will be Wednesday because of the FOMC meeting that will adjourn, followed by revised economic projections from the Fed and a press conference with Chairman Powell that afternoon. Monday has nothing of importance set, meaning we can expect weekend news to be the biggest influence on trading as the new week begins. Look for details on all of next week’s activities in Sunday evening’s weekly preview.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock 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.