Holiday shortened week could cause volatility

If we celebrated the day that the Continental Congress voted on the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain then we wouldn’t be in the office today. It was actually on July 2, 1776 that the colonies voted to approve the Declaration of Independence. However, following the nearly unanimous vote Thomas Jefferson took the document, made a few edits, and it was adopted on July 4, 1776. Happy 4th!

Mortgage rates adopted modest improvements last week.

The Week Ahead
It is a holiday week and the financial markets will close early on Tuesday and remain closed until Thursday. During holiday weeks trading desks tend to be lightly staffed. With fewer buyers and sellers in the marketplace we have to be on guard for volatility.

Jobs
The economic calendar this week is compressed with the highlights coming Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we’ll get minutes from the last Fed meeting at which they hiked short-term rates.

On Friday we get the all-important jobs report. Analysts are expecting ~190,000 new jobs created. A number north of that estimate would likely pressure rates higher and vice versa.

US Stocks
US stocks continue to slide on fears of trade tensions. Since the middle of July the S&P 500 is off about 3% and mortgage rates have improved by ~.125%.

Technical Trading Patterns
The yield on the US 10-year treasury note continues to trade below 2.90%. As long as we remain at or below 2.90% I will continue to recommend a floating position.

Current Outlook: floating