By James Brooks

The bond market is up 2/32, which should keep today's mortgage rates the same as yesterday's rates.

Stocks are reacting to disappointing earnings news from some big-named companies including IBM and United Technologies that are part of the Dow. This by theory should help boost bond prices but we have not seen much of a reaction yet. If the Dow extends its early losses and the Nasdaq gives back its morning gains, we could see bonds react positively later today.

Tomorrow has the week's first piece of relevant economic data with the release of June's Existing Home Sales figures. The National Association of Realtors will post this report at 10:00 AM ET tomorrow. This report gives us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand. Current forecasts are calling for a small increase in sales from May's totals. A drop in sales would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates because a weakening housing sector makes broader economic growth more difficult. However, unless this data varies greatly from forecasts it probably will lead to only a minor change in mortgage rates.

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.