Tuesday's bond market has opened well in positive territory with the stock markets posting sizable losses during morning trading. The Dow is currently down 121 points while the Nasdaq is down 8 points. The bond market is currently up 15/32, but we will likely see little change in this morning's mortgage rates due to weakness in bonds late yesterday.

Today's only economic news was June's Trade Balance report that revealed a much smaller than expected trade deficit. The report showed that it stood at $56.8 billion compared to the $61.9 billion that was expected. However, this data is not considered to be of high importance to mortgage rates and has not had much of an influence on today's pricing.

July's Retail Sales data will be released early tomorrow morning. This data is very important to the financial markets and mortgage rates because it helps us measure consumer spending. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, any da ta related to it can cause a fair amount of movement in the markets. A larger decline than expected would indicate that consumers are spending less than previously thought, potentially slowing the economy. This is good news for the bond market and mortgage rates as it eases inflation concerns and makes long-term securities such as mortgage-related bonds more attractive to investors. Current forecasts are calling for a decline of 0.1%.

July's Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released at 8:30 AM Thursday. The CPI is one of the most important reports we see each month. It measures inflation at the consumer level of the economy. There are two readings in the report- the overall index and the core data reading. The more important of the two is the core data because it excludes more volatile food and energy prices. Current forecasts call for an increase of 0.4% in the overall and 0.2% in the core data reading. Smaller than expected increases should lead to a bond ra lly and lower mortgage rates. However, stronger than expected readings will likely cause a spike in mortgage pricing.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.