At the time I am writing this, mortgage interest rates are less than 1/8th higher than they were last Friday.
Both the 10 year treasury bond and mortgage bonds have been contained in a narrow range for the last few weeks. Technically the mortgage bonds are over sold and the stock market over bought and should be due for a correction, but so far any movement that way have not been able to keep any momentum. If we do see a correction we should see a small dip in rates, but don’t look for it to be long lived as the general trend continues to be rates going higher. The reason that rates are on the increase is that we are seeing more and more positive economic reports coming out.
Today the Empire State Manufacturing index was released and had the largest gain in 30 years. It showed that manufacturing is recovering which is a sign that our economy is getting back on track. The mandatory spending cuts are due to set in on Match 1st which is approaching quickly and as usual Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on how to deal with it. Democrats want a 10 month extension on them in exchange for some smaller spending cuts and a tax hike. As usual Republicans are opposed to any tax hikes, so we currently appear to be in a gridlock. Surprisingly the market seems to be digesting it well and there is not much volatility. If our leaders can’t come to an agreement as we get closer to the March 1st deadline look for market volatility to pick up.
