Rate Update October 10, 2008
Mortgage rates are sharply higher AGAIN this morning.
In a bearish signal for interest rates mortgage-backed bonds did close below the 200-day moving average yesterday. I wrote about the importance of this layer of technical support/ resistance in yesterday’s rate update. If mortgage-backed bonds are unable to rally above this level today it is likely that we will see mortgage rates remain higher for the foreseeable future.
Stocks continue to trade with extreme volatility. In the first 10 minutes of trading this morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down another 700 points before rallying back to be up 50. Currently stocks are trading down again. In the current bull market which started in October of 2007 the S & P 500 is now off 41%.
Working in favor of mortgage rates, oil prices are now down around $80/ barrel which should help ease inflationary pressure.
Due to this occurrence and the level of volatility in the markets we have shifted our outlook to locking.
Current outlook: locking