Forecast for the Week 
Several key housing reports will be released this week.
- Existing Home Sales data kicks off the week on Monday and New Home Sales will be released on Wednesday. The reports come after last week’s big drop in Housing Starts.
- As usual, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be reported Thursday. Last week’s claims fell by 24,000 to 334,000, but the decline was due in part to factories undergoing their usual summer shutdown for a few weeks.
- Look for the Consumer Sentiment Index on Friday.
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. The chart below shows Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), which are the type of Bond that home loan rates are based on.
When you see these Bond prices moving higher, it means home loan rates are improving — and when they are moving lower, home loan rates are getting worse.
To go one step further — a red “candle” means that MBS worsened during the day, while a green “candle” means MBS improved during the day. Depending on how dramatic the changes were on any given day, this can cause rate changes throughout the day, as well as on the rate sheets we start with each morning.
As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates attempted to rally last week. I’ll continue to monitor their movement closely.
Chart: Fannie Mae 3.5 Mortgage Bond (Friday July 19, 2013)
The Mortgage Market Guide View…
Power Productivity
9 Ways to Add 5 Hours to Your Day
Never wait alone. Checkups, oil changes, long lines and hold times–all of these contribute to significant chunks of idle time. Rather than catching up on the latest celebrity gossip, bring something to work on. (30 minutes)
One-touch rule. Don’t get back to it later–if a voicemail, email, or piece of paper takes one minute or less to handle, do it and move on. (20 minutes)
News fast. Avoid watching or listening to news first thing in the morning–it’s more important to build a positive mood as you prepare for your day. (30 minutes)
News faster. Get your news sources, blogs, and favorite daily content fed to a single location instead of clicking around willy-nilly. Bloglines is one resource. (20 minutes)
Write everything down. How many times have you gone to the grocery store with the list in your head, and still forgotten something? Write short lists on a sticky note, or simply text yourself. Same goes for the office: carrying a to-do list in your head is not just a recipe for forgetting all you have to do, it’s a stress generator. (30 minutes)
Free your hands. Holding a phone in the crook of your neck limits your ability to do much else. Handle calls while cooking, cleaning, and driving with a headset. (30 minutes)
Call them all. Instead of making three or four calls to different people on the same action item, make a conference call. Freeconferencecall.com is both free and reliable–and even gives you your own line. (20 minutes)
Techno Freeze. Identify your most productive time during the day then turn off tech that distracts you. Setting aside email and phone for that period can easily double or triple your productivity. Turn off your TV early and save an average of 2.6 hours a day–11 days a year–according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (90 minutes)
Waffle check. Every minute you spend deciding what to do, buy, or wear is time you could use elsewhere. Knowing how much your time is worth per hour can help you avoid indecision. For example, “shopping around” for two hours to save $10 on shipping only makes sense if your time is worth $4 an hour. (30 minutes)
Economic Calendar for the Week of July 22 – July 26
|
Date
|
ET
|
Economic Report
|
For
|
Estimate
|
Actual
|
Prior
|
Impact
|
| Mon. July 22 |
10:00
|
Existing Home Sales |
Jun
|
NA
|
5.18M
|
Moderate
|
|
| Wed. July 24 |
10:00
|
New Home Sales |
Jun
|
NA
|
476K
|
Moderate
|
|
| Thu. July 25 |
08:30
|
Jobless Claims (Initial) |
7/20
|
NA
|
NA
|
Moderate
|
|
| Fri. July 26 |
10:00
|
Consumer Sentiment Index (UoM) |
Jul
|
NA
|
83.9
|
Moderate
|
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Mortgage Info By Michelle Wickett 