Market Update
Monday, February 13, 2017
What’s going on and why does it matter?
Mortgage bonds opened lower today as stocks continue to rally in response to President Trump’s announcement last week that a “phenomenal” tax plan will be announced soon. Fed Chair Yellen is scheduled to give her semiannual monetary policy report to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The market will be watching for any indication as to when and how the Fed will begin to unwind its massive holdings of mortgage bonds. Speculation is that the Fed will stop buying mortgage bonds sometime later this year, and the market will be looking for Yellen to confirm or deny these rumblings. The Fed’s mortgage bond purchases are very light this week because they won’t be in the market tomorrow and Wednesday due to Yellen’s testimony. In fact, the Fed is only scheduled to purchase 30-year conventional mortgage bonds during one operation later this week. As for today, the Fed is scheduled to purchase up to $1.75 billion in GNMA and 15-year conventional mortgage bonds.
What should you do about it?
Lock your rate to be safe.
Economic Calendar
Economic reports that may impact mortgage rates this week:
| Date | Report | Period | Prior | Estimate | Actual |
| Tue 14 Feb |
PPI final demand |
Jan | +0.2% | +0.3% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Core CPI | Jan | +0.2% | +0.2% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Real Weekly Earnings |
Jan | +0.1% | 0.0% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Retail Sales | Jan | +0.6% | +0.1% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Industrial Production |
Jan | +0.8% | 0.0% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Capacity Utilization |
Jan | 75.5% | 75.5% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Mfg. Output | Jan | +0.2% | +0.2% | |
| Wed 15 Feb |
Business Inventories |
Dec | +0.7% | +0.4% | |
| Thu 16 Feb |
Building Permits |
Jan | 1.21M | 1.23M | |
| Thu 16 Feb |
Housing Starts |
Jan | 1.23M | 1.22M | |
| Thu 16 Feb |
Initial Jobless Claims |
Week of Feb 6 |
234,000 | 245,000 |
Scott Shenton
NMLS Number: 1039731
Apex Home Loans
Corporate NMLS Number: 2884
sshenton@apexhomeloans.com
https://www.apexhomeloans.com/scottshenton
(240) 268-3156
3204 Tower Oaks Blvd, Suite 400
Rockville, Maryland 20852
Apex Home Loans, Inc. NMLS #2884. For more information, please reference the NMLS Consumer Access Website at http://nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Licensed by: DE as a Lender by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner (011603); DC as a Dual Authority Mortgage Lender by the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (MLB2884); FL as a Mortgage Lender by the FL Office of Financial Regulation (MLD1088); MD as a Mortgage Lender by the Dept. of Labor, Licensing & Regulation (06-4989); N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance (2884); PA as a Mortgage Lender by the Dept. of Banking & Securities (45078); VA as a Lender and Broker by the State Bank Commissioner (MC1278); and WV as a Mortgage Lender by the WV Division of Financial Institutions (ML-34657).
New Market Mortgages with Scott Shenton 