• Friday’s mortgage rates should be lower by approximately .125 of a discount point if compared to Thursday’s early pricing, due mostly to bond gains late yesterday. The bond market is currently up 1/32 (4.23%).

 • Stocks are mixed with the Dow down 308 points and the Nasdaq up 40 points.

 • This morning’s sole relevant economic release was January's preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment at 10:00 AM ET. They announced a reading of 56.4 that was an increase from December’s 54.0 and higher than expectations. The increase means surveyed consumers felt better about their own financial conditions than they did last month and are likely to spend more.

 • Next week brings us a handful of events that may influence mortgage pricing, but a couple of them are considered to be highly important to the markets.

 • The week’s calendar begins with November’s Durable Goods Orders report Monday morning that will give us an indication of manufacturing sector strength.

 • We also have the first FOMC meeting of the year midweek and a wholesale inflation index Friday. In between there are a couple of less important releases and two Treasury auctions that we will be watching.

 • Look for details on all of next week’s scheduled activities in Sunday evening’s weekly preview.

 • Visit our Daily Commentary page on our site for detailed explanations on current news that is relevant to mortgage rates.

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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... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.