Mark's Blog Report

Tuesday's bond market opened in positive territory following news of a plummet in consumer confidence last month and word that the Fed expects it to take a couple of years for the economy to fully recover from the recession. The stock markets showed gains with the Dow. The bond market was up 8/32 at one point Tuesday morning, which improved Tuesday morning's mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.  By mid afternoon on Tuesday, the bond market moved down and erased any improvement in rates and rates actually decreased from most lender's opening rates.

The Conference Board gave us February's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) late Tuesday morning, showing a reading of 25.0. This was an all-time low and indicates that consumers are still concerned about their jobs and own financial situations. That is expected to mean that they are less likely to make large purchases in the near future, which will limit economic growth. This is good news for bonds and mortgage rates.

Also this morning was Mr. Bernanke's semi-annual testimony on the status of the economy to the Senate Banking Committee. During his testimony he stated that he was optimistic that the recession would end later this year, but that it would take two to three years for the economy to fully recover from it. He also said that restoring financial stability is needed for the economy to recover. None of this is a major surprise but making it official word from Chairman Bernanke gives the markets benchmarks to follow.

More news to follow for Wednesday's news.