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This week's economic calendar is light but the impact could be big:

New Home Sales will be released on Tuesday. This report comes after a drop in Existing Home Sales, Housing Starts and Building Permits. It would be nice to see some improvement - but the market expectation isn't high. Gross Domestic Product for the 2nd quarter will be released on Friday, and investors will be waiting with bated breath for signs of weakening in the US economy. The initial read for Q2 came in low. If the second read is weak, Stock markets could move a leg lower and give Bonds a boost. But the report isn't released until Friday, so Stocks and Bonds will fight for investing dollars throughout the week. Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.

As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and Home loan rates improved last week but tapered off a bit on Friday. Stock markets fell once again last week on fears of a double-dip recession. That coupled with a plunge in the Philly Fed Index along with weak housing numbers fueled a rally in the Bond markets that saw Mortgage Bonds hit fresh 2011 highs before giving up some of those gains on Friday.

Overall, however, home loan rates are still at some of the most attractive levels ever seen - making now a great time to consider a refinance or home purchase.

Provided by
CJ Baxendale
Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS ID # 564370
Arvest Bank Mortgage Lending
Office: 405-366-3053
Mobile: 405-570-6535
Fax: 405-366-3068
Email: cbaxendale@arvest.com