Mortgage bond prices finished the week higher which put downward pressure on rates. Rates were stable Monday morning despite stock strength that had the DOW up 264 points early that day. The Senate passed tax reform which had stocks optimistic. Factory orders fell 0.1% versus the expected 0.4% decrease. ADP payrolls rose 190K as expected. Revised Q3 Productivity was 3% versus the expected 3.3% reading. Weekly jobless claims were 236K. Analysts expected a reading of 240K. Unemployment was 4.1% as expected. Payrolls rose 228K versus the expected 200K increase. The strong payrolls component sent stocks sharply higher again Friday. Consumer sentiment was 96.8 versus the expected 98.8 which tempered some of the positive economic outlook. We ended the week better by approximately 1/4 of a discount point.

December 08, 2017

Information provided by: The Brannon Group / NOVA home loans