Santa Fe Las Campanas Stock/Bond Market Report

The bond market is higher today, and continues to climb.  At this writing, not all lenders have re-priced their rates for the better.  But, if you are in the position of locking or floating an interest rate TODAY, it might be better to wait until the end of the day to lock, especially with 30-yr rates.  So, what’s happening to the rates?  Last week, it was thought that there would be a definitive and practical solution to the European debt crisis.  (At the end of the week, rates started to rise, as did the stock markets.  )  Investors took their money out of the “safe-haven” mortgage back securities market and invested their $$ into the stock market, seeking better returns for their investment.  However, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble announced to reporters over the week-end that the strategies to resolve the European debt crisis will more than likely take years to resolve rather than what investors perceived would take only weeks.  So, the mad scramble to preserve capital rather than secure potential gains has impacted the stock and bond markets – with the Dow Jones down, and rates following.