Mortgage Rates Steady - Waiting on Vote

Mortgage rates are moving sideways so far today as all eyes are still focused on what is going on in the House in regards to the healthcare bill.  Yesterday the vote was called off because there were not enough votes to pass it as structured. Yesterday defections accumulated both among the most conservative lawmakers and Republican centrists, even after a day of intense lobbying by President Trump. Trump now saying he is finished with negotiations and is calling on Republicans to vote it up or down today. If the bill does not pass Trump is saying he is finished with it and wants to move on with other things on his agenda - leaving ObamaCare intact. Budget director Mick Mulvaney said this morning that the tax cutting plans are not subject to the health care bill. Markets have believed that until health care is decided tax cut plans and fiscal spending cannot move forward. That makes sense as along as it is resolved today as Trump wants.

February durable goods orders report was better than consensus estimates. In fact, January report was revised upward as well.  Overall, after you tear apart all the various pieces of the report, it was not a bad report.

It has been interesting thus far with several Fed presidents speaking this week on the circuit.  Usually they are trying to address the economic issues and what it means to the FF rate.  Yellen did it earlier this week, and that was followed by Chicago Fed President Evans, who is a voting member.  I never put much stock on the rhetoric that they do say, but this time, there is nothing that they are saying.

The most likely scenario today is for mortgage rates to once again trend in a very tight channel. However, if there's a vote on the health care bill during business hours we could see some major market and mortgage rate volatility.