rate lock report: Corporate Profits May Drive Mortgage Rates Up - Daily Rate Update for July 13th, 2010
- 07/13/10 02:42 AM
Alcoa, CSX beat expectations; Trade deficit up; treasury auctions later - Daliy Rate Update for July 13th, 2010 When two companies that are a backbone to other corporate activity both report better-than-expected profits and revenues, you can bet that the rest of corporate America is probably doing pretty well, too. Well Alcoa, a manufacturer of aluminum, and CSX, a transporter of just about everything, both beat expectations, and this suggests that they may not be alone. The trade deficit is worse than expected, and we'll find out exactly how traders feel about the situation at 1:00 this afternoon when the results … (0 comments)
rate lock report: It's Been A Quiet Week For A Mortgage Loan. . . - Daily Rate Update for July 9th, 2010
- 07/09/10 04:52 AM
Wholesale inventories nominal; Investors seek to hedge positions going into busy week; Next week's preview; New Feature: The Rumor Mill - Rate Lock Report for Friday, July 9th, 2010 In spite of the relative lack of data this week, mortgage pricing has still been a little more volatile that might have been expected, but most of that was caused by the stock lever from several straight days of higher than usual stock market gains. More than anything else, those stock market gains were driven by bargain hunting. Next week is a different animal altogether though, as we'll review below. Today, the … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Credit Card Delinquencies Fall and Unemployment May Have Peaked - Double Who? - Daily Rate Update for July 7th, 2010
- 07/07/10 03:43 AM
Yesterday's market dominated by "double dip" recession fears; Today's data suggests things MAY not be that bad - Rate Lock Report for July 7th, 2010 If you're unhappy with the pricing improvements we received yesterday, please raise your hand. Anyone? I didn't think so. Would you like to know why it happened? Yesterday, markets were gripped with panic over the possibility of a "double dip" recession, that is, a second, possibly worse, recession following the first. Needless to say, this is a pretty scary possibility, and one that the talking heads on CNBC apparently couldn't say enough yesterday. (I didn't actually … (1 comments)
rate lock report: Services Growth Slows; Rates At All Time Lows - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for July 6, 2010
- 07/06/10 05:56 AM
Service Sector Growth Misses Expectations; Accounts for 80% of all US Jobs - Rate Lock Report for July 6, 2010 Today marks the start of a short, quiet week, from the perspective of economic data. We will receive exactly two pieces of interest-rate-influential data this week; one the Institute for Supply Management's Services Sector Index this morning, the second the weekly unemployment claims on Friday. For the rest of this week, I anticipate mortgage rates will be driven more by activity in stock markets. The ISM Services Sector Index measures the pace of expansion or contraction in the services sector, which … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Private Employers Disappoint and 652,000 give up looking for work - Daily Rate Update for July 2nd, 2010
- 07/02/10 04:26 AM
Overall, 125,000 jobs lost; unemployment rate falls to 9.5% on discouraged workers; Only 83,000 private-sector jobs added - Rate Lock Report for Friday, July 2nd, 2010 As I predicted yesterday, the highlights of today's monthly jobs report were too few private-sector jobs added, and too many discouraged workers giving up. Results weren't drastically different than expected, though, so mortgage rates have opened the day slightly worse than they closed yesterday. Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics brings us its Current Employment Statistics report, often referred to as the Non-Farms Payrolls report, a survey of 160,000 business and government entities that … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Mortgage Rates Set a New Record Low on Weak Economic Data - Daily Rate Update for July 1st, 2010
- 07/01/10 06:05 AM
First Time Homebuyer Closing Extension Almost Certain; 30-year Fixed Hits 4.58%; Unemployment Claims up - will Non-Farms Payrolls miss tomorrow? - Rate Lock Report for July 1, 2010 Happy July! I imagine many of your reading this are relieved that the deadline to close tax credit homes has passed; I hope you were successful in getting them all to the table; if not, congress finally got it together and passed an extension through both houses yesterday, so you will likely have until September 30th to close those. New unemployment claims were unexpectedly higher today, at 472,000, further bringing into question economists … (0 comments)
rate lock report: ADP Payrolls Report Paints Grim Picture, But Things In Europe Maybe Not So Bad - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 30, 2010
- 06/30/10 03:35 AM
European banks borrow only €132 billion compared to €210 billion that had been expected; Private employers add a paltry 13,000 jobs - Rate Lock Report for June 30, 2010 Yesterday, global equity markets dropped sharply on serious worries about liquidity in the European banking system. We learned this morning that the situation there isn't quite as bad as feared, as banks that had been expected to borrow as much as €300 billion instead took less than half that figure. Today's news brought us a first look at June's employment situation, and it wasn't spectacular. According to payroll provider ADP, private employers … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Stocks Tumble on Economic Woes, Pushing Mortgage Rates to New Lows - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 29, 2010
- 06/29/10 07:06 AM
European Liquidity Worries Hammer Markets; US Consumers' Outlook Glum; Home Prices Rise Slightly; 10-year Treasury Breaks Through 3% - Rate Lock Report for June 29, 2010 When I first saw the headlines and initial quotes this morning, the phrase, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" came to mind. It was that bad. The 10-year treasury had dipped below the psychologically important 3% threshold, suggesting it may be moving even lower still. The later data wasn't all that encouraging, either There are two main issues in play today. First, Wall St. is really spooked about the upcoming repayment of €442 billion on … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Final GDP Report Confirms Growth is Slower than Expected - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 25, 2010
- 06/25/10 06:20 AM
Mortgage sell off yesterday was mostly profit taking; rates headed back towards lowest on record - Rate Lock Report for Friday, June 25, 2010 Many of us who were floating loans yesterday were shocked yesterday when a market that had opened significantly stronger sold off gradually throughout the day, ending with mortgage pricing almost 3/4 of 1 point, or between .125-.25% in rate, worse. Analyzing the data and other information available yesterday, there was no underlying reason for this sell off, rather, traders who had seen the value of their holdings increase substantially recently took yesterday's stock market as a cue … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Markets Slump Sharply on Weak Data, Profit-Taking - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 24, 2010
- 06/24/10 09:44 AM
Unemployment Claims Fall Slightly, Durable Goods Orders Less than expected, but traders want none of it - Rate Lock Report for June 24, 2010 Yesterday, the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee said exactly what I expected: Economic recovery continues, but is not as strong as expected; inflation pressures are minimal. The net result to markets? Next to nothing. After closing essentially unchanged from the Fed announcement, stocks opened weaker this morning, strengthening the bond markets, on continued worries about the ripple effects of the European economic crisis. US data today hasn't helped that any, but the market's reaction has been a … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Waiting to hear, "Economic recovery continues, but is not as strong as expected; inflation pressures are minimal" from the Fed - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 23, 2010
- 06/23/10 03:33 AM
Federal Reserve ends two-day meeting, makes policy announcement at 2:15 PM today, but it's their wording that will influence markets much more than their action - Rate Lock Report for June 23, 2010 The policy action the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee will take today is almost universally expected to be nothing. No rate increase, and, with no room to go downwards, no decrease either. So, what are traders waiting for? Over the past few years, when the Fed has declined to take any action to change interest rates, a quite common occurrence, traders have placed more weight on the wording … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Existing home sales disappoint, and Europe worries continue - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 22, 2010
- 06/22/10 04:06 AM
Economists expect 6.1% rise, market delivers 2.2% decrease in existing home sales; Europe's biggest bank BNP Paribas SA sees its rating cut -- Rate Lock Report for June 22, 2010 Yesterday, markets opened strong on news of China's liberalization of currency trading policy, only to soften throughout the day, leading to a very nice improvement in mortgage pricing compared to where it started the morning. Pricing has continued to improve this morning, starting on concerns after Europe's largest bank by deposits had its credit rating cut due to concerns about the strength of its assets, among other reasons. This concern brought … (0 comments)
rate lock report: China Loosens Currency Policy; Stocks Open Strong, but Falter -- Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 21, 2010
- 06/21/10 07:37 AM
Currency rise would mean imports more expensive, but what is the implication for rates? Rate Lock Report for June 21, 2010 When I wrote the rate update last Friday, I wasn't expecting we'd have much to talk about today. I was wrong. Over the weekend, China made a major announcement, saying that it would allow its currency to float somewhat more freely compared to the US Dollar. For the last two years, the Renminbi, or yuan, has traded in a very narrow range with the dollar, as China instituted an effective currency peg to the dollar in response to the financial … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Manufacturing? What Manufacturing? - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 18, 2010
- 06/18/10 02:22 AM
Big miss in manufacturing survey of Philadelphia region adds support to bonds; Quadruple-witching today, especially after 3:00 PM EST; USA-Slovenia at 9:30 AM - Rate Lock Report for June 18, 2010 Happy Friday! At least Celtics fans can celebrate that fact after last night's heartbreaking defeat. Another disappointment yesterday was the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Index, or Philly Fed Index. This index, published monthly, gives insight into manufacturing activity in the states overseen by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Economists had been expecting the index to come in around 21.4; instead, the result was 8. Any positive result indicates there was … (0 comments)
rate lock report: This time it's oil driving interest rates?!? - Daily Mortgage Rate Update for June 17, 2010
- 06/17/10 03:21 AM
BP suspends dividend to fund $20 Billion cleanup and compensation fund; Energy prices drive wholesale inflation negative - Rate Lock Report for June 17, 2010 Yesterday, we received several economic reports, but there were other headlines driving mortgage rates too. Wholesale inflation, through the Producer Price Index, showed that prices declined by 0.3%, but stripping out more volatile food and energy costs, prices actually increased 0.2%. Keep in mind that notation about food and energy - we'll be coming back to that. A survey of manufacturing activity gave some support to the notion that it may be manufacturing that pulls the … (0 comments)
rate lock report: What's this 'Stock Lever' thing, and why is it making mortgage rates worse? - Daily Mortgage Rate update for June 16, 2010
- 06/16/10 01:24 AM
Big Rise in Stocks Puts Pressure on Mortgage Rates; Inflation Data Coming this Morning - Rate Lock Report for June 16, 2010 Good morning, at least I hope it is! Unfortunately, if you took my advice yesterday on mortgage refinance rates, you're probably a little bit worse off today than you were yesterday morning. Mortgage pricing started very strongly on Tuesday, after climbing out of a little dip on Monday, but got pounded later in the day as investors flocked to a sharply rising stock market. The relationship between equity and debt markets is one that will often affect pricing for … (0 comments)
rate lock report: Another European Downgrade, and we're back where we started - Daily Rate Update for June 15, 2010
- 06/15/10 01:53 AM
Greek Debt Downgraded to Junk; Housing and Manufacturing Data Coming - June 15,2010 Rate Lock Report Good morning! Once again yesterday, financial markets opened significantly higher, only to close down. I wish I could say this is a new thing, but it is something that has been happening 2 or 3 times a week since the beginning of May. While there is a specific cause we can point to yesterday, on the whole this trend of day-long declines appears to by a symptom of a market that is just a bit too bearish to have confidence in any significant advance. Yesterday's … (3 comments)
rate lock report: Last Week’s Light at the End of the Tunnel: Oncoming Train
- 04/07/08 05:48 AM
Early last week, there were indications of significant good news for the economy coming out of Wall Street and Washington. On Tuesday, ADP reported its survey results showed slight gains for the month of March. Later that day, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke signaled his perception that recession might already be in progress, but the market took that information in stride for much of the day, selling off only very late in the day as investors locked in some of their profits. On the whole, though, this acknowledgement was viewed relatively positively by the market. With the first pieces of good news … (0 comments)
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Alcoa, CSX beat expectations; Trade deficit up; treasury auctions later - Daliy Rate Update for July 13th, 2010;)
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