By James Brooks

The bond market is up 2/32 (2.26%), which should keep Raleigh area mortgage rates at yesterday’s levels.

Last week’s unemployment figures were posted at 8:30 AM ET this morning, revealing that 233,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed. This was a noticeable decline from the previous week’s revised 248,000 initial claims and lower than the 245,000 that was expected. That indicates the employment sector was stronger than thought last week, making the data negative for bonds and mortgage rates. However, this is only a weekly snapshot. Therefore, we are not seeing much of a reaction in the markets.

The Conference Board gave us June's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) at 10:00 AM ET. It showed a 0.6% increase, exceeding forecasts of a 0.4% rise. The increase means the indicators are predicting growth in the economy over the next several months. Fortunately, this is also a minor release, preventing much of an impact on today's mortgage rates.

Tomorrow has nothing of importance scheduled for release. If we see a move in mortgage rates it likely will be a result of stock gains or losses. Generally speaking, stock gains usually translates into bond weakness and an upward move in mortgage rates. On the other hand, losses in stocks should push mortgage rates lower.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now.