The big news to look for this week will be April’s Jobs Report, coming out on Friday at 8:30am ET. The anticipation prior to and results of this report will have Stocks teetering along the aforementioned pivotal level of resistance. The direction of Stocks will no doubt influence Bond prices in the opposite direction.

March’s Jobs Report had a mix of good and bad news, as the economy lost 663,000 jobs, meaning 5.1 Million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December of 2007. However, for the first time in a very long while, there were no downward revisions to a prior month’s reading, as February’s number came back with no change. It will be important to see if April’s numbers or any revisions to March show if there is indeed some level of stabilization at hand for the labor market.

Remember that the Unemployment Rate tends to be a lagging indicator, but the number of jobs created gives us a current view of the markets. Still on the jobs theme, Thursday’s Initial Jobless Claims number – although volatile – gives us a glimpse of what we can anticipate.

As you can see in the chart below, Bond prices and home loan rates worsened this week – but home loan rates are still near historic lows. If we have not talked recently about your home loan situation or future plans, please give me a call or send me an email – let’s talk.