Mortgage Rate Update August 13, 2012

Posted on by Evan in Rate Update

Mortgage rates are better today than last Thursday.

US stocks are starting the week lower after Japan reported that economic growth declined sharply in the 2nd quarter compared to the 1st.  Bad news for stocks is often good news for interest rates.

Looking ahead the economic calendar is fairly full this week.  The key data points are the Produce Price Index (Tuesday), Consumer Price Index (Wednesday), and jobless claims (Thursday).

SUMMER VACATIONS ARE DRAWING ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE DEBT CRISIS

The European debt crisis remains the big elephant in the room but as Europeans take their August vacations there is less attention being paid.  This may partially explain why yields have increased slightly from all-time low levels.  I would expect the debt crisis to reemerge as the central focus for the financial markets in September.

Current Outlook: neutral