December 20th, 2019 12:57 PM by T. Fanning
Last Updated: 12/20/19Friday's bond market has opened up slightly despite early stock gains and somewhat unfavorable results in today's economic data. The Dow is currently up 83 points while the Nasdaq has gained 27 points. The bond market is currently up 1/32 (1.92%), which with some strength late yesterday should improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point over Thursday's early pricing.There were three pieces of economic data released this morning. The second revision to the 3rd Quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reading confirmed that the economy grew at annual rate of 2.1% during the July through September months. That was the rate the initial revision gave us and is what was expected in today's release. Since this data is quite aged at this point and 4th quarter numbers will be posted next month, today's revision had little impact on bond trading or mortgage pricing.November's Personal Income and Outlays data gave us the bad news. It showed that personal income rose 0.5% and that spending rose 0.4%. The income reading was stronger than expected, indicating consumers had more money to spend last month than thought. Spending pegged forecasts, but the 0.4% rise is still a moderate pace that could be troublesome if it repeats in the coming months. However, the inflation reading within the report that the Fed heavily relies on came in slightly weaker than expected. That offset the bad income number, preventing a negative reaction in the bond market.Closing out this week's data was the revised University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for December that was announced at 99.3. This was close to the initial estimate of 99.2% and in line with expectations. It means that surveyed consumers were just as confident about their own financial situations as they were two weeks earlier. Therefore, no change in spending habits that affects economic growth are expected. Accordingly, we can consider the data neutral for bonds and mortgage rates.Next week is a holiday shortened week with only two reports scheduled for release. There is a minor release set for Monday, but Tuesday's release is considered to be of high importance. The week has an early close Tuesday for both stocks and bonds followed by full closure Wednesday. With nothing of importance set for Thursday and Friday, many traders will be home most of the week. Look for details on all of next week's schedule in Sunday evening's weekly preview.If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would....Lock if my closing were taking place within 7 days...Lock if my closing were taking place between 8 and 20 days...Float if my closing were taking place between 21 and 60 days...Float if my closing were taking place over 60 days from now...This is only my opinion of what I would do if I was financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.**http://www.hlmcolorado.com/DailyRateAdvisory
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