Daily Commentary by Larry Baer: Boring -- very boring. Mortgage interest rates are struggling to maintain their momentum toward new historical lows.
Signs of continuing progress in talks to avert a Greek debt default are taking the edge off of the global investment community's appetite for safe-haven investments like U.S. dollar-denominated government debt obligations and mortgage-backed securities. If the current trickle of capital flowing out of the safe harbor of dollar-denominated assets were to turn into a flood -- one of the key supports holding mortgage interest rates at current levels will be washed away. This is a process that will evolve over time and currently is not much of a near-term threat, but I think it would be wise to view it as an inevitability -- rather than a possibility. I will continue to keep you posted on this developing story.
In terms of the economic news of the day mortgage investors gave this morning's report of in-line 4th Quarter Employment Cost growth of 0.4% and a January survey of consumer confidence indicating people's attitudes on Main Street have become more gloomy than any time in the previous two months -- nothing more than a passing glance.
THE MARKET IS ALWAYS RIGHT! . YOU AND I ARE SOME OF THE TIME
