Monday's bond market has opened in positive territory despite stronger than expected economic news. Helping boost bond prices this morning are sizable stock losses with the Dow down 132 points and the Nasdaq down 27 points. The bond market is currently up 6/32, but we will likely still see an increase in this morning's mortgage rates of approximately .125 of a discount point due to weakness late Friday.

The first data of the week was the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index. It revealed a reading of 49.6 that was over a full point higher than forecasts. This means that manufacturers were more optimistic about business conditions than analysts had thought. That is considered negative news for bonds because strengthening manufacturing activity usually leads to strong overall economic activity and raises inflation concerns. Fortunately, traders seem to be more interested in today's stock weakness than this data.

Tomorrow's only relevant news is the Commerce Department's release of April's Factory Orders data. This manufacturing sector report is similar to last week's Durable Goods Orders release, but also includes orders for non-durable goods. It can cause some movement in the financial markets if it varies from forecasts by a wide margin, but it isn't expected to cause much change in rates this month. Current forecasts are expecting to see a decline in orders of 0.1%.

Overall, look for Friday to be the most important day of the remaining week with the release of May's Employment figures. This morning's data failed to drive bond prices or mortgage rates in any direction, but Friday's data most likely will. If we see stronger than expected readings Friday, I expect to see mortgage rates close the week higher than this morning's levels.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing w as taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float 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.

©Mortgage Commentary 2008