MMG Weekly: Fed Meeting and Jobs Report

Last Week in Review: Several key reports were released, including the Jobs Report for July. Plus, the Fed met.

Forecast for the Week: The economic calendar is quiet this week, but will the markets still be volatile?

View: Making a great first impression is important, but it can also be easy. See the simple tips below.

"Let's give them something to talk about." Bonnie Raitt. And there was plenty to talk about last week, with the Fed meeting and full economic calendar. Read on for details.

The Jobs Report for July is in and 162,000 jobs were created, below the 175,000 expected. Estimates had ranged up to 224,000 job creations. Meanwhile the numbers for May and June were revised lower by 26,000. The Unemployment Rate fell to 7.4 percent, while the Labor Force Participation Rate was little changed at 63.4 percent. The LFPR calculation is quite simple. If you are 16 years old and not in the military, then you either have a job or you don't. The ratio of people "participating" or working is then compared to the total population.

The big takeaway is that this report is in line with an economy growing at sub 2 percent. It also supports the Fed's decision, announced earlier in the week, to continue its Bond purchases at the rate of $85 billion a month. The Fed said the rate of their purchases will continue to depend on economic data, and could be increased or decreased accordingly. The Fed also noted that the U.S. economy expanded at just a modest pace during the first half of the year. The previous statement suggested the economy was expanding at a "moderate" pace.

In housing news, the Case Shiller 20-city Home Price Index saw its biggest annual gain since March 2006, rising 12.2 percent from May 2012 to May 2013. The data supports a recovering housing sector. And Personal Consumption Expenditures came in at 0.2 percent, in line with estimates, showing that inflation remains tame.

What does this mean for home loan rates? At the end of the day, the Fed does not want home loan rates to rise any further. As it stated last week regarding the continued purchasing of Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities, "taken together, these actions should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative."

The bottom line is that now remains a great time to consider a home purchase or refinance, as home loan rates remain attractive compared to historical levels. Let me know if I can answer any questions at all for you or your clients.

• The ISM Services Index kicks the week off on Monday.
• The only other report is Thursday's Weekly Initial Jobless Claims. Last week, claims fell to 326,000, the lowest level since January 2008.

Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. The chart below shows Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), which are the type of Bond that home loan rates are based on.

When you see these Bond prices moving higher, it means home loan rates are improving -- and when they are moving lower, home loan rates are getting worse.

To go one step further -- a red "candle" means that MBS worsened during the day, while a green "candle" means MBS improved during the day. Depending on how dramatic the changes were on any given day, this can cause rate changes throughout the day, as well as on the rate sheets we start with each morning.

As you can see in the chart below, Bonds rallied at the end of last week after the weaker-than-expected Jobs Report for July. I'll continue to monitor all the news closely.

4 Keys to Making a Great First Impression

"You have just 7 seconds to make a good first impression." Roger Ailes, CEO, FOX News

"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression." Will Rogers

We know we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we just can't help it. The root of the problem is that our brains are capable of making 1,001 estimations and calibrations at lightning speed. First impressions are just another timesaver.

According to a joint study by NYU, Tufts, and Harvard, people make 11 decisions about us in the first seven seconds of contact: education level, economic level, perceived creditability and believability, trustworthiness, level of sophistication, sexual identification, level of success, political background, religious background, ethnic background, and social and professional desirability.

If you happen to be on the receiving end of this process, there are a few things you can do to make a great first impression:

Honorable mentions. If you really think about it, meeting someone new really is quite an honor. After all, you never know what that relationship could turn into or how it might transform your life or business someday. Knowing that, it's easy to treat other people with distinction.

What have you done for them lately? Playing the hard-sell networking card within a few minutes of meeting someone is a turn off. Instead, figure out what you can do for them. What they can do for you will naturally follow.

When you lose, you win. You may indeed be the best at everything, but you don't need to show it. Compliment others, and be genuinely impressed by their achievements--be a little jealous even. The rewards of humility will be apparent quickly.

Network like a ninja. The artfulness of martial arts comes from using another person's strength in your favor. It just so happens that getting people to talk about themselves in conversation works much the same way. As soon as you know something about someone, ask how they did it, or why they did it, or what they learned from it. Showing your respect and recognition will make you attractive.

Don't forget to pass these helpful tips along to your clients and colleagues.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 05 - August 09