Friday's bond market has opened fairly flat following a mixed open in the stock markets. The Dow is showing a 17-point loss while the Nasdaq has gained 13 points. The bond market is nearly unchanged from yesterday's close, meaning we should see little change in this morning's mortgage rates.



There is no relevant economic data scheduled for release today, so we should be looking towards the stock markets for guidance on bond trading. If the major stock indexes move upward from current levels, we may see some pressure in bonds that could lead to a small increase to mortgage pricing this afternoon. If stocks head lower during afternoon trading, we could see an improvement to mortgage rates later today.

Bank of America has resumed foreclosure actions.  In a related story in the press today, it is being reported that over 70% of home owners in the Las Vegas area are underwater.  Repossessions across the nation are running at record highs.

Next week brings us the release of a handful of economic reports that have the potential to affect mortgage rates, including the extremely important initial reading of the 3rd Quarter Gross Domestic Product. There ar e also two Treasury auctions that may influence bond market sentiment and lead to changes to mortgage rates in the middle of the week.



There is some data being posted Monday, but it is considered to be of low to moderate importance to mortgage rates. The National Association of Realtors will release September's home resale figures late Monday morning. It gives us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand, but unless it shows a good size difference between forecasts and actual results, it likely will not influence mortgage rates much. Look for more details on next week's data and events in Sunday's weekly preview.