Weekly Market Update from Curt and Shannon

August 19, 2013

August 19, 2013
The media does a great job at steadily featuring the topic of fluctuating interest rates – yet an equally important headline that doesn't often appear often is the importance of maintaining good credit. Individual credit scores make a substantial impact on the interest rates that lenders extend to consumers. Being smart about existing debt and liabilities must be emphasized as a lifelong focus. Your clients can visit www.annualcreditreport.com to order a copy of their credit report (one free report is available a year from each of the three national reporting companies). My goal is to share information and resources that add value to your business. Let me know if I can do anything to help. Sincerely,

	The Dalpiaz Team
	Curt and Shannon
	141 S. McCormick Street Suite #107
	Prescott, AZ 86303
	Ph-928-777-8971
	curt.dalpiaz@academy.cc
	shannon.dalpiaz@academy.cc
	LO License-#0912851 LO NMLS-#151454
	NMLS #243638

Taper Talk Hurts Mortgage Rates

Average 30-year fixed rate

Week of 08/16: +0.20%

Week of 08/09: -0.02%

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Stocks (Weekly)

Dow: 15,175 -250

NASDAQ: 3,610 -40

HIGHLIGHTS

	July Housing Starts Rose 6% From June.
	Home Builder Confidence Rose to the Highest Level in Eight Years.
	Core CPI Inflation was 1.7% Higher than One Year Ago.
	Jobless Claims Declined to the Lowest Level Since October 2007.

Last week, a broader consensus formed that the Fed will begin to taper its bond purchase program in September or October, and investors reacted by selling US stocks and bonds. The US economic data released this week provided little reason for the Fed to wait, and the European data showed unexpected strength. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week higher.

The Fed's massive bond purchase program powered stocks to record highs and helped push mortgage rates to historic lows. The Fed has indicated that it is almost time to begin to scale back the program, and the only reason to wait would be unexpected weakness in economic growth. Last week's labor market and Retail Sales data was stronger than expected, though, causing more investors to anticipate that the Fed will taper in the next month or two. Both stocks and bonds were negatively affected by the growing expectations.

Mortgage rates received additional upward pressure from the economic news out of Europe. After eighteen months in a recession, second quarter GDP in the euro zone increased modestly, exceeding the consensus. In particular, Germany and France performed well. The recovery in Europe caused global interest rates to rise this week, including US mortgage rates.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The most highly anticipated economic release this week will take place on Wednesday when the FOMC Minutes from the July 31 Fed meeting are revealed. These detailed Minutes provide additional insight into the debate between Fed officials. The biggest economic data will be Existing Home Sales on Wednesday and New Home Sales on Friday. The only other report will be Leading Indicators on Thursday. Investors also will be eager to hear comments from Fed officials.

MON 8/19	TUE 08/20	WED 08/21	THURS 08/22	FRI 08/23
		Fed Minutes	Jobless Claims	New Home Sales
		Existing Sales	Leading Indicators

The market commentary material provided is from a third party vendor, MBSQuoteline, and is not necessarily the opinions of the sender or the organization they represent. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Additionally, the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, but there is no guarantee it is without error.

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Academy Mortgage Corporation
1220 East 7800 South
Sandy, UT 84094
p. 801-233-3700