Forecast for the Week

Friday’s Jobs Report for May ends a week filled with key reports.

• The packed economic calendar kicks off on Monday with Personal Income, Personal Spending and Personal Consumption Expenditures (the Fed’s favorite measure of inflation).
• Also on Monday, look for manufacturing news via the ISM Index. The ISM Services Index will be released on Wednesday.
• Additional reports on Wednesday include the Fed’s Beige Book and the ADP National Employment Report.
• Thursday brings Productivity for the first quarter and Weekly Initial Jobless Claims.
• Friday is the big day with the May Jobs Report, which includes Non-farm Payrolls, Hourly Earnings and the Unemployment Rate.

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 improved recently. Home loan rates remain attractive.

Chart: Fannie Mae 3.5% Mortgage Bond (Friday May 29, 2015)

The Mortgage Market Guide View…

Video Conference Tips

Video conferencing is a great way to connect with clients and colleagues when face-to-face meetings aren’t possible. Debra Benton, author of “The Virtual Executive,” suggests following these video conference tips:

Acknowledge the other side of the monitor. You’ve got an audience, so it’s not a good idea to eat, drink or multitask in any other way. In addition, looking bored or displaying other bad body language also shows you aren’t engaged. If you absolutely must make noise or have an off-camera discussion, don’t forget to mute yourself.

Make sure everything works. Before your video conference, make sure your setup works properly with a test call so you can troubleshoot any issues ahead of time. Pay particular attention to volume, as you don’t want to sound too loud or too quiet.

Watch out for delays. Internet connections don’t always cooperate, so be aware of any speed delays. If you notice people talking over each other, let everyone know there’s a delay and lead the conversation to make sure no one misses important information.

Be on time and don’t go over time. As with face-to-face meetings, this is always an important business etiquette rule to follow.

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

Source: Open Forum

Economic Calendar for the Week of June 1 – June 5

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