By James Brooks

The bond market is unchanged (2.16%), which should keep Raleigh area Mortgage rates unchanged.

Today has no relevant economic data set for release. The rest of the week brings us the release of seven pieces of economic data for the markets to digest, including a couple of extremely important reports. Those more important reports come late in the week.

What today does have is the first of this week's two Treasury auctions that may affect bond trading and mortgage rates. There are auctions several days, but the two relevant ones are today's 5-year Note and tomorrow's 7-year Note sales. Results of these will be posted at 1:00 PM ET each day, so any reaction will come during early afternoon trading. If investor interest is strong in the auctions, we can expect the broader bond market to rally and mortgage rates to possibly move slightly lower. However, lackluster demand could lead to bond selling and higher mortgage rates later this afternoon and possibly tomorrow.

The Conference Board will post their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for August late tomorrow morning. This index measures consumer sentiment about their personal financial and employment situations, giving us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. A noticeable decline in confidence would indicate that surveyed consumers probably will not make a large purchase in the immediate future. That would be a sign of economic weakness and should drive bond prices higher, leading to lower mortgage rates tomorrow. It is expected to show a reading of 120.3, which would be a small decline from July's 121.1. The lower the reading, the better the news for bonds and mortgage pricing.

Overall, Friday is the most important day of the week due to the significance of the Employment and ISM reports that will be posted. The calmest day for rates may be today or tomorrow. With so much on tap this week, it would be prudent to maintain contact with your mortgage professional if still floating an interest rate and closing in the new future.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now.