Forecast for the Week

The second half of the week is busy, featuring several key reports.

• Economic data begins on Wednesday with Retail Sales for April, which will gauge consumer spending.
• Thursday brings the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level.
• Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will also be released on Thursday.
• The week comes to an end with the Consumer Sentiment Index and Empire State 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 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 rallied in recent days after a downward trend. Home loan rates remain attractive.

Chart: Fannie Mae 3.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday May 8, 2015)

The Mortgage Market Guide View…

5 Easy Ways to Manage Busy Times

When life and work are busy, there never seems to be enough time in the day. You can navigate hectic times with ease when you use these five tips:

Establish a firm deadline for decision making. Then, mark your calendar to take action. For example, schedule one hour to look online and check reviews for the best smartphone, then schedule the purchase for 2:00 p.m. that Thursday.

Remember your personal systems. Eating the same breakfast, exercising on a schedule and only taking appointments during set time-windows are simple ways you can streamline things.

Leverage technology. Automate as much of your workload as you can. For instance, you can free up your time by using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, setting up automatic bill pay, and subscribing to a newsletter service instead of writing your own.

Use smartphone smarts. Stop juggling to-do lists in your mind (or texting yourself), and get an organizer app like Any.do or Awesome Note.

Know your quadrants. Stephen Covey built a billion dollar empire with a single time-management exercise. By determining which items are (1) immediate and important deadlines, (2) long-term goals, (3) distracting or lower priority activities, or (4) activities yielding little value, you can clarify your workdays.

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

Economic Calendar for the Week of May 11 – May 15

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