News You'll Use

Mortgage rates rose this week, although the rise in rates was more technical in nature and not due to fundamental reasons, such as inflation picking up or the unemployment rate falling. Oil continues to march higher, which is also not helping rates move lower. Investors' appetite for longer term treasuries has been waning, especially this week, which is one of the reasons we have seen rates move higher. They are not wanting to stand out in front of a re-pricing in longer term U.S. treasuries, nor try to attempt to catch the falling sword. The issue right now is who will the buyer be to step in front of this sell-off in rates. We are due for a rally, but the issue is when will that rally be and how much higher will rates be by then.

• U.S. 10-year Treasury closed at 4.57% on Thursday afternoon

• FHFA House Price Index came in higher than analyst's expectations (0.8% m/m vs expectations of 0.4% m/m)

• S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city index came in higher than analyst's expectations (0.87% m/m vs expectations of 0.7% m/m)

• New Home Sales came in lower than analyst's expectations (675k sales vs expectations of 698k)

• Conference Board Consumer Confidence came in lower than analyst's expectations (103.0 vs expectations of 105.5)

• Durable Goods Orders came in higher than analyst's expectations (0.2% m/m vs expectations of -0.5% m/m)

• Pending Home Sales came in lower than analyst's expectations (-7.1% m/m vs expectations of -1.0% m/m)

• Initial Jobless Claims came in lower than analyst's expectations (204k claims vs expectations of 215k claims)

• Mortgage Applications fell 1.3% this week