Today's New Comment

Tuesday's bond market has opened in positive territory following a much weaker than expected consumer confidence reading. The stock markets are posting moderate gains again with the Dow up 17 points and the Nasdaq up 5 points. The bond market is currently up 8/32, which will likely improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.

The Conference Board posted their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for September late this morning, showing a reading of 99.8. This was much lower than the 104.5 that was expected and was the lowest reading since November 2005. That indicates that consumers were far less confident in their own financial situations than many had thought. This is good news for the bond market and mortgage rates because waning confidence usually translates into weaker levels of consumer spending.

The National Association of Realtors reported that home resales fell 4.3% last month, which was close to forecasts. This was the sixth consecutive monthly drop in sales, indicating that that the housing sector continues to weaken. However, this data is not considered to be highly important to mortgage bonds, therefore, its results have failed to influence rates this morning.

August's Durable Goods Orders will be posted early tomorrow morning. This report gives us an indication of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders for big-ticket items at U.S. factories. Current forecasts call for a drop in orders in the neighborhood of 3.5%. A larger decline could help bond prices and cause mortgage rates to drop tomorrow. However, a smaller than expected decrease would indicate a stronger than expected manufacturing sector that would likely help push mortgage rates higher Wednesday.

Mortgage Commentary 2007