Rate Lock Advisory For March 21, 2008

Thursday's bond market has opened down slightly due to early stock gains. As the volatility continues in the markets, stocks are posting sizable gains this morning following yesterday's sell-off. The Dow is currently showing a 135 point gain while the Nasdaq is up 20 points. The bond market is currently down 3/32, which will likely push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.The Conference Board gave us today's only relevant monthly data with the release of its Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for February. It showed a 0.3% decline as it was expected to, meaning that economic activity may slow moderately in the coming months. This is considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates.The Labor Department said that 378,000 new claims for benefits were filed last week, up from the previous week's 356,000 and higher than what was expected. This can also be considered good news for bonds, but since it tracks only a week's worth of claims it usually has little impact on mortgage pricing.The bond market will close at 2:00 PM ET today and remain closed tomorrow in observance of the Good Friday holiday. There is a possibility of seeing additional volatility in trading as we get closer to the closing bell as traders move to protect themselves over the long weekend.There will be no update to this report tomorrow, but look for details on next week's events in Sunday's weekly preview.If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Lock if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers. ©Mortgage Commentary 2008