Mortgage bond prices fell last week pushing mortgage interest rates higher.

Mortgage bond prices fell last week pushing mortgage interest rates higher. Stocks continued to show strength throughout the week. The DOW was generally positive which didn’t help mortgage bonds. There were very few economic releases. The Fed minutes from the last meeting were released and inflation was the focus. The Fed indicated it is important to monitor inflation expectations but noted that a boost to inflation from rising energy costs will likely be transitory. Unfortunately the talk of inflation, real or perceived, generally caused fixed income securities such as mortgage bonds to fall and rates to rise. Mortgage bonds ended the week worse by about 3/8 of a discount point.