Monday's bond market has opened relatively flat with no relevant news scheduled for release today. The stock markets are posting moderate gains with the Dow up 30 points and the Nasdaq up 17 points. The bond market is currently up 2/32, which will likely keep this morning's mortgage rates at Friday's levels.

The first important data of the week is tomorrow's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for September. This Conference Board index will be posted at 10:00 AM and gives us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. It is expected to show a decline from last month's reading, indicating that consumers are less likely to make large purchases in the near future. This is good news for the bond market and mortgage rates. Analysts are calling for a reading of approximately 104.5, down from August's 105.0. If we see a larger than expected decline, we should see the bond market move higher and mortgage rates drop tomorrow.

The second piece of data also comes tomorrow morning with the release of August's Existing Home Sales report. The National Association of Realtors posts this data, giving us an indication of housing sector strength by tracking home resales in the U.S. It is expected to show a decline from July's sales, however, this data is not considered to be of high importance to the bond market.

August's Durable Goods Orders will be posted early Wednesday 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 2.5%. A larger decline could help bond prices and cause mortgage rates to drop Wednesday. However, a smaller than expected decrease would indicate a stronger than expected manufacturing sector that would likely help push mortgage rates higher Wednesday.

Overall, this will likely be a fairly active week for mortgage rates. The most important day will either be tomorrow or Wednesday due to the importance of the date being posted those days. For the time being, I am holding the lock recommendations for the immediate, short-term and mid-term periods. If this week's data does indeed show weaker than expected results, I may shift to float recommendations for some periods.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers

Wednesday's bond market has opened in negative territory despite weaker than expected economic news. The stock markets are posting sizable gains with the Dow up 80 points and the Nasdaq up 22 points. The bond market is currently down 9/32, which should push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .250 of a discount point.

The Commerce Department said that new orders for big-ticket items fell 4.9% last month. This was a larger drop than was expected, but this data can be quite volatile due to aircraft and transportation related orders. Still, the news is somewhat favorable to bonds and mortgage rates, but today's stock gains have prevented much interest in bonds.

There are two pieces of relevant economic news scheduled for release tomorrow. The first is the final revision to the 2nd Quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Since this data is aged now and the preliminary reading of the 3rd Quarter GDP will be released next month, I don't see this revision having much of an impact on the financial markets or mortgage pricing. It is expected to show a slight decline from the previous estimate of a 4.0% annual rate.

The second is the release of August's New Home Sales. It is expected to show that sales of new homes fell in August. As was the case with Tuesday's Existing Home Sales data, this report will likely not have a significant impact on mortgage rates.

The Labor Department will also give last week's unemployment claim numbers, which are expected to come in at 320,000 new claims. Unless this figure varies greatly from forecasts, it will likely have little impact on tomorrow's mortgage pricing.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.