Another volatile week in this crazy market. Retail Sales dropped for the 5th straight month. Expect a dismal holiday shopping season ahead...probably the worst retailers will have seen in a long time. Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and will be closing 150 stores. We also learned of poor economic reports from Nordstrom, Best Buy, Macy's, Wal-Mart, General Motors and Intel. And bad news continued on the job front, as Initial Jobless Claims reported the highest number of first time unemployment claims since 2001. Jobless claims have reached their highest level in 25 years. As a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise. That didn't hold as rates ended slightly higher than last week.
This morning, Mortgage Bonds are near unchanged levels and hover near the 200 day Moving Average. I would recommend floating. However, if you find a rate and payment combo that suits your budget, consider locking.
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