Forecast for the Week

After Monday’s Presidents Day holiday, the economic calendar is packed with important news on housing, inflation and manufacturing.

• Key housing reports are ahead this week, beginning on Tuesday with the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index. On Wednesday, look for Housing Starts and Building Permits.
• Manufacturing data from the Empire State Index will be delivered on Tuesday, while the Philadelphia Fed Index comes out on Thursday.
• Wednesday brings a read on inflation at the wholesale level via the Producer Price Index.
• Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be reported, as usual, on Thursday.

In addition, the minutes from the January meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee will be released on Wednesday, and these always have the potential to add volatility to the markets.

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 on which home loan rates are based.

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, Mortgage Bonds have stabilized after falling in recent weeks. Home loan rates remain near historic lows.

Chart: Fannie Mae 3.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday February 13, 2015)

The Mortgage Market Guide View…

5 Tips for Resolving Workplace Conflict

While office conflicts can be stressful, they’re also a great opportunity to overcome obstacles and improve relationships. Here are five tips to keep in mind:

People are different. Using a single approach for resolving conflict won’t produce cookie cutter results. If your initial approach doesn’t work, consider if your style is getting in the way of a resolution.

Understand underlying emotions. Take time to dig below the surface and try to see the situation from the other person’s perspective.

Don’t make enemies out of rivals. If a situation devolves into name-calling, spite or outright hatred, step away and cool off. Otherwise, the teams involved and the company culture in general can suffer.

Conflict ends but reputations last forever. Avoid doing or saying anything that could damage your professional reputation or personal credibility.

Know what you dislike about yourself because it is often the very thing you dislike about others. Taking a personal inventory early in your career will go a long way to subduing conflict before it can begin.

Please feel free to pass these helpful tips along to your team, clients and colleagues!

Economic Calendar for the Week of February 16 – February 20

The material contained in this newsletter is provided by a third party to real estate, financial services and other professionals only for their use and the use of their clients. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, we do not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness and as a result, there is no guarantee it is without errors.

Mortgage Market Guide, LLC is the copyright owner or licensee of the content and/or information in this email, unless otherwise indicated. Mortgage Market Guide, LLC does not grant to you a license to any content, features or materials in this email. You may not distribute, download, or save a copy of any of the content or screens except as otherwise provided in our Terms and Conditions of Membership, for any purpose. The material contained in this newsletter is provided by a third party to real estate, financial services and other professionals only for their use and the use of their clients. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, we do not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness and as a result, there is no guarantee it is without errors.