Mel's Blog

Thursday's bond market opened in positive territory following early stock losses that have made bonds more attractive to investors. The stock markets are showing sizable losses with the Dow down 116 points and the Nasdaq down 40 points. The bond market is currently up 3/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates.

The Conference Board posted their Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) late this morning, announcing a 0.3% increase. This was a little weaker than the 0.4% that was expected, but not enough of difference to influence this morning mortgage rates. That data indicates that economic activity is expected to increase moderately over the next three to six months. That is acceptable to bonds, as many economists and the Fed expect the economy to expand slowly.

The Labor Department said this morning that 505,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This was very close to forecasts and also has had little impact on this morning's bond trading and mortgage pricing.

                Mel