Quiet start to the new week. News today will focus on the 1:00 pm cst release of Fed Minutes (FOMC) from last month’s meeting. Traders will be looking for any clues on what lies ahead for quantitative easing. Treasury auctions will also be in play, starting with 29 billion of 3 year notes today, 21 billion of 10’s tomorrow, and 13 billion of 30’s on Thursday. Tactical bias here is to sell into the auctions as consolidation is typical when taking down 66 billion in paper is at hand. Post auctions, traders will want to come out long (own the paper) as QE2 fever will support the fixed income market.
With both retail and fast money accounts quiet, pricing reflects much of the same. 10 year notes are up 1/32nd, current coupon mortgage backs up 1/32nd, and stocks down 20 points on the big board. The week ahead will feature Import Prices tomorrow, Weekly Unemployment Claims and inflation data (PPI) on Thursday, and CPI (inflation at the consumer level), Retail Sales, Empire State Manufacturing, and Michigan Sentiment Survey on Friday.
Currently, the best bet for Austin mortgage borrowers: don’t take historic low Austin mortgage rates for granted.
