The RateWatch
 Commentary by Bill Brizendine of Melody Capital MarketsAlmost like clockwork, the Treasury market gave back virtually all of last week’s gains in the wake of new employment reports suggesting the economy continues to expand. Job growth was stronger than expected and new unemployment claims were down. On the other hand, ironically, the unemployment rate was up slightly but not nearly enough to offset the otherwise strong employment data. So, the traders and pundits did a one-eighty from last week’s mantra that the Fed would soon have to decrease rates. After dipping as low as 4.40% during mid-day trading in the middle of the week, the commercial fixed rate mortgage benchmark 10-year Treasury yield closed Friday at 4.55%, up 13 bps from the previous Friday. Tomorrow’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Board is not expected to produce any action with respect to interest rates. All eyes will be fixed upon the statement the Fed will issue at the close of the meeting for clues about a “bias.” More importantly, consumer price figures for November will be revealed on Friday, which will be viewed as a report card on Fed policy. Download The RateWatch: A one-page analysis of institutional lending rates |