Tuesday's bond market has opened in negative territory following the release of stronger than expected consumer confidence news. The stock markets are showing gains again with the Dow up 30 points and the Nasdaq up 16 points. The bond market is currently down 6/32, which should push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point from Friday's morning rates.

The Conference Board posted their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) late this morning, showing a reading of 108.0. The report also revised April's reading higher, meaning confidence was stronger than previously thought. These are bad news for the bond market and mortgage rates because strong confidence usually means more consumer spending.

There is no relevant economic data scheduled for release tomorrow, but we will get to see the minutes from the last FOMC meeting. Market participants will be looking for how Fed members voted during the last meeting and any comments about inflation concerns in the economy. The goal is to form a guess about what the Fed's next move will be. The minutes will be released at 2:00 PM ET, so if there is a market reaction to them it will be evident during afternoon trading.

The first of two revisions to the 1st quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be released at 8:30 AM Thursday. The second and final revision to this data comes next month but isn't expected to have much of an impact on the financial markets. The GDP is the sum of all goods and services that are produced in the U.S. and is considered to be the best indicator of economic growth. Last month's preliminary reading revealed a 1.3% annual rate of growth, which was much lower than expected and the weakest reading since 2003. Analysts expect a further downward revision to this reading with the consensus being .8%. If true, we may see the bond market react positively and mortgage rates improve.

Overall, I think we have a busy week ahead of us. The remaining big reports of the week are Friday's Employment data and ISM index, so we will likely see plenty of volatility in the markets and rates Friday morning.

Thursday's bond market has opened in negative territory following another round of stock gains and concerns about tomorrow's economic data. The stock markets are well into positive territory with the Dow up 18 points and the Nasdaq up 11 points. The bond market is currently down 6/32, which will likely push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.

Today's only relevant data was the first revision to the 1st quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It showed an annual rate of growth of 0.6%, which was lower than the 0.8% that was expected and well below the previous estimate of 1.3%. This means that the economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought. It actually was the slowest pace of growth since the last quarter of 2002. While this is generally good news for bonds, it hasn't influenced bond trading due to the importance of tomorrow's data and more gains in stocks that are drawing funds from bonds.

Tomorrow brings us the release of four pieces of data, including two of the weeks' most important. The first is April's Personal Income and Outlays data at 8:30 AM. This report gives us an indication of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. An increase in income means that consumers have more money available to spend. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, this data can cause movement in the financial markets and mortgage rates. Current forecasts are showing a 0.3% rise in income and a 0.4% increase in spending.

The second report of the day is also arguably the single most important report that we see each month. The Labor Department will post May's Employment data early Friday morning. This report gives us key employment readings such as the U.S. unemployment rate and the number of jobs added or lost during the month. Analysts are expecting to see the unemployment rate remain at 4.5% with approximately 135,000 new jobs added. An increase in unemployment and fewer new jobs than expected would be great news for the bond market. It would probably create a sizable rally in bonds, leading to lower mortgage rates tomorrow.

The next report is the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index. This highly important index measures manufacturer sentiment. A reading above 50 means that more surveyed manufacturing executives felt that business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened. Analysts are expecting to see a 54.0 reading in this month's release, meaning that sentiment slipped during May. A smaller reading will be good news for the bond market and mortgage shoppers while an unexpected increase could contribute to higher mortgage rates.

The last report of the day and the last important data of the week will come from the University of Michigan who will update their Index of Consumer Sentiment for May. An upward revision would be considered a negative for bonds, but because of the importance of the day's other data I am not expecting this report to influence mortgage rates.