Last Updated: 12/05/2007

Wednesday's bond market has opened in negative territory again following early stock strength and mixed economic news. The stock markets are posting strong gains with the Dow up 101 points while the Nasdaq has gained 33 points. The bond market is currently down 8/32, which will likely push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .250 of a discount point. The first of today's two releases gave us favorable news when the 3rd Quarter Productivity index was revised significantly higher. It showed that worker output improved at a 6.3% annual pace. This was higher than the 5.8% that was expected and much higher than the previous estimate of 4.9%. This is good news because high levels of productivity allow economic growth without significant inflationary pressures.