Thursday, September 7, 2017

What's going on and why does it matter? Mortgage bonds opened higher this morning after bouncing off their 10-day moving average in yesterday's volatile day of trading. The European Central Bank (ECB) announced this morning that they will extend their massive bond buying program for a while longer, and so the bond market is rallying today. On the economic calendar, the jobless claims numbers jumped this week due to the initial economic impact from Hurricane Harvey. The Fed is scheduled to purchase up to $1.475 billion of GNMA mortgage bonds today, and a few Fed policymakers are scheduled to give speeches. What should you do about it? Watch for mortgage bonds to remain in positive territory above their 10-day moving average, which has been operating as a technical level of support. However, be prepared to lock your rate quickly if mortgage bonds fall back below that level.    Economic reports that may impact mortgage rates this week: Date Report Period Prior Est. Actual Tue 5 Sep Factory Orders Jul 3.0% -3.3% -3.3% Wed 6 Sep ISM Non-Mfg PMI Aug 53.9 55.4 55.3  Thu 7 Sep Initial Jobless Claims Week of Aug 28 236k 237k 298k Fri 8 Sep Wholesale Sales Jul 0.7% 0.4%