Forecast for the Week

The heart of earnings season is upon us, while the economic calendar is on the light side.

• We’ll get a double dose of housing news with Existing Home Sales on Wednesday and New Home Sales on Thursday.
• Also on Thursday, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be released, as usual.
• Ending the week, look for Durable Goods Orders 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 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, the recent boost in Mortgage Bonds has helped keep home loan rates near record lows.

Chart: Fannie Mae 3.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday April 17, 2015)

The Mortgage Market Guide View…

Create Effective PowerPoint Decks

Whether you’ve been invited to share your expertise at a local event or you’ll be giving a presentation to clients or colleagues, a PowerPoint deck is a wonderful visual tool to go along with your speech or message.

A PowerPoint presentation serves three key functions. First, it provides visual cues to make it easy for your audience to follow along. Second, it reinforces your key points in a visual format. Finally, it provides a framework to help you hone your message.

The following strategies can help you create effective PowerPoint decks.

Make it easy to follow along:

• Include an agenda slide so the audience knows what to expect.
• Place transitional title slides between key sections to allow your audience to shift focus to your next point.
• Make sure headings or transitional slides align with your agenda.
• Use consistent formatting, so the audience knows where to expect placement of headings, subheadings, bullets and graphics.

Make slides readable:

• Ensure high contrast between the background color and text color.
• Use 24-point font type, at a minimum, for slide text.
• Have fewer than 35 words per slide.
• Present only three to five bullets per slide when using a bulleted list.
• Trim copy to short, consistent phrases. Complete sentences are not necessary.

Make content meaningful:

• Use graphics to illustrate a point. While not every slide needs a graphic, presentations with a mix of images and text can be more impactful.
• Avoid unnecessary animation that distracts from your message.
• Format a clear footer on every slide with your name and contact information so people can capture your information.

Finally, be respectful of the time. For planning purposes, think about spending one to two minutes per slide. If you’re giving a 10-minute presentation, plan on having five to seven slides. This does not include title or transitional slides, unless you have a one to two minute transition.

Feel free to pass these helpful tips along to your team, clients and colleagues.

Economic Calendar for the Week of April 20 – April 24

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