Cabin Fever

Well another day of subzero temps. It's -12 degrees, I think that's a 14 year record for Overland Park.
Our driveway is completely untouched since I haven't had the willpower to shovel it. This makes it hard for Molly's car to escape the garage, so the only car that can get out is the tahoe. But it doesn't really matter, because I still can't leave.... Molly has class at UMKC everyday and the state of Missouri doesn't clean their roads, so she takes my car. Leaving me stranded at home, thus creating cabin fever.
Sorry this isn't or shouldn't be big deal. I should love the fact I really don't have to go anywhere.

So while I overstimulate myself with social media and pretend to work, I wanted to let my one follower...  Molly Hartley, know what's going on in my world of mortgages.


Anyway, now for today's mortgage news.

The Short of it.......

The current trend direction: Sideways to Lower

Risks Favor:  Locking later today ahead of Jobs Report

Current Price of FNMA 4.0% Bond: $98.28, -16bp  

Early this morning mortgage bonds took a beating. Now they look like they're fighting back trying to take back the early losses.

The Reason Why.........

The day before a big Jobs Report…and there is a whole lot happening.  This morning's issue is particularly long, but we think there are some very important points to understand and share with those you are working with.  So grab a cup of coffee…and let's get started.

Despite the ongoing turmoil in Egypt, rising commodity prices and growing inflation fears in Europe ripped through the Bond markets yesterday, and put a dent in Bond prices again so far this morning.  Bonds opened lower this morning and are below support levels that have previously held since the end of December - not a good technical signal.  

As we have job data on our minds looking ahead to tomorrow, today's report on Initial Jobless Claims showed a decline of 42,000 in the latest week to 415,000, which was below the 425,000 expected, and reversed most of the increase from the previous week.  Continuing Claims, which reflect the number of people already receiving unemployment compensation, declined 84,000 to 3.93 Million.  The 4-week moving average, which smooths out any anomolies in the data, came in at 430,500, a slight increase from the previous week's revised average of 429,500.  States reported 3.65 Million people claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits, a decrease of 130,413 from the prior week.  So we see that the trend of Claims continues to improve overall…but still not by enough to put much of a dent in the high Unemployment Rate. 
(sourced from MMG)