Mortgage Bonds are trading slightly higher, but are lower than the best levels of the morning, in response to a mixed bag of news and headlines.
Today’s very weak Initial Claims report showed 455,000 new claims, far worse than expectations of 420,000. This left the more closely watched four-week moving average to 419,500, the highest since July 2003. This report tells us pain still exists in the labor market.
Retail giant, Wal-Mart, announced that sales were less than expected and sales growth would slow in August. This news has pressured Stocks lower so far today and as a result helped support Mortgage Bonds earlier this morning.
