Key Economic News:

After an early morning report on labor demand, we have jobless claims, productivity and costs, and Treasury Secretary Geithner….

The Monster Index of on-line job advertising jumped 8 points in April, a bit more than half of which was due to seasonal improvement in labor demand.
8:30: Unemployment insurance claims…another step down? Analysts expect only small declines in jobless benefit claims for this week’s report, which will soon be overshadowed by the payroll figures tomorrow. The most important incremental information in today’s claims report for tomorrow’s payroll figures – the total number of people receiving benefits for the week ending April 17 – is also unfortunately apt to be contaminated by the temporary lapse in the emergency program. It is unlikely that this total will return to normal given that the president signed the extension on April 15, the Thursday of that week. If the figures do increase sharply, then this will be a sign that they have returned to “normal,” otherwise we would discount them pending confirmation of a genuine decline next week.

For initial claims, median forecast (of 45): 440k, ranging from 425k to 455k; last 448k.
For continuing claims, median forecast (of 12): 4.61 million

As the Real Estate and financial markets continue to move up and down, mortgage rates can also be affected. Since mortgage rates are more closely tied to the bond markets, an up or down move in the stock market may not have the result in mortgage rates that one might expects. In fact, many times the resulting mortgage rate changes are counter-intuitive.

More importantly, rates change daily and they can change quickly. Some mortgage professionals have recently noted that their rate quotes have only had shelf lives of three to four hours before market changes have deemed them inaccurate.

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How does a consumer navigate fast changing markets in order to refinance their existing loan or purchase a home with the most favorable terms possible?

1. Plan – Define your needs ahead of time, do not wait until the last minute. This is especially true of home purchases.
2. Consult – Talk to your mortgage professional on a regular basis so they can interpret recent market events to you and communicate how those events can affect you.
3. Execute – When you have defined your needs and have determined that now is the best time to move forward, don’t shop yourself out of a good loan! What does this mean? It is easy to get caught up in shopping for the best rate, but it is not uncommon for home owners to miss locking their loan at a great rate because they are in search of better rates that do not exist or that they do not qualify for. It is important to shop to insure you are getting the best rate possible, but set limits to the number of companies you are going to consider doing business with and be careful of having your credit report needlessly and more times than is necessary!