THE HEAT IS ON." Glenn Frey. While cooler temperatures are beginning to descend on many parts of the country, Bonds and home loan rates are feeling the heat and pressure from several fronts. Here are some details...along with why it's important to act soon to take advantage of current home loan rates, as they may never be seen again.

Last week, the Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) was reported higher than expected, indicating that inflationary forces may already be underway. Remember, inflation erodes the value of the fixed return that a Bond provides - therefore, inflation is harmful to Bonds and home loan rates. Just the hint of inflation can cause home loan rates to worsen, which is what we saw last week.

And here's a very interesting and important note - when looking at these CPI numbers, it is important to understand the effect that the "Cash for Clunkers" program had on this index. The Cash for Clunkers program was very "creatively" accounted for as a reduction in the sales price of automobiles, which had to have a dramatic effect on lowering the CPI that was reported. Imagine how much higher CPI would have been had this "creativity" not been used. As even more inflationary fears creep into the economy, home loan rates will continue to rise.

Also adding pressure to Bonds and home loan rates is the Fed's plan to ration out their remaining purchases of Mortgage Backed Securities. The Fed has purchased around $950B year-to-date out of the $1.25T allotted for the program, which is now set to expire March 31, 2010. This means the Fed will be averaging about $14B a week in purchases, a lot less than $25B or so they had been doing up until recently. And anytime demand for an item slows down...including Mortgage Backed Securities...the price goes down. And in this case, it means that home loan rates will move higher.

The bottom line is that the heat is on...and home loan rates are starting to rise already. While home loan rates are still incredibly low, it is clear this won't last much longer - and we may not see rates at these levels again in our lifetimes. Give me a call if you want to discuss your own situation, or if you have a friend, family member, neighbor or coworker who might benefit from some information.

In other news, Retail Sales for September fell by 1.5% - and while the numbers were better than expected, they are still dismal at best. In addition, the flood of pre-holiday sales and layaway options that are already hitting - remember, it's still mid-October - also suggests a lack of pricing power for retailers. Stock earnings season continued with some mixed news: There were reasonably strong earnings reports from Intel and JPMorgan Chase, while there were weaker than expected reports from Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and IBM. Bank of America also posted its first loss for the year.

After all the week's heat and pressure, Bonds and home loan rates ended the week slightly worse than where they began.

Forcast For The Week

More inflation news is ahead this week, with Tuesday's Producer Price Index (PPI) Report, which measures inflation at the wholesale level. Also this week, we'll get a double dose of housing news, first with Tuesday's Housing Starts and Building Permits Report and second with Friday's Existing Home Sales numbers for September. Some of the numbers have been looking better in recent months, as buyers move quickly to take advantage of the combination of low home loan rates, discounted home prices, and for first time home buyers, a juicy tax credit that is set to expire soon.

Given the state of the job market, Thursday's Initial Jobless Claims Report continues to be an important report to watch. Last week's Jobless Claims fell by 10,000 to 514,000 - and while this was lower than the 520,000 that was expected, it was still an enormous number of people applying for unemployment benefits, which highlights a weak labor market. Also, earnings season continues for Stocks, which could have a big impact on both Stocks and Bonds. The Dow had cracked the psychologically tough level of 10,000...but was unable to hold its ground, and was pressured back lower.

Remember: Weak or negative economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong or positive economic news normally has the opposite result. Bond prices moved lower last week, meaning home loan rates moved higher. As discussed above - home loan rates are headed higher and are unlikely to return to similar levels anytime soon...and perhaps they never will again. Don't miss your opportunity to improve your own home loan situation, or make a suggestion to someone you know that might be in need of some solid advice