Financial markets in the US will be closed for President's Day on Monday. Thus, mortgage lenders will not be open, nor will they be accepting locks. Given that mortgage rates took the road less traveled in 2018 and actually moved lower, it's worth having a chat with your mortgage professional if you have a loan in process. 

Of course, many of you may not be reading this until after the lock window has passed for today, so let's take a look at next week's risks and opportunities.  The biggest risk is the same one that's been with us all year.  Simply put, rates have been trending higher in a steady but highly convicted fashion, quickly adding a half a percentage point or more to the average 30yr fixed rate quote.  As we've been saying all year, it doesn't make sense to bet against that trend until it shows clear signs of cooling, and today's modest improvement doesn't cut it.

The opportunity is the same one that's cropped up on several occasions in the past few months.  Rates have generally circled the wagons with 2 stable or stronger days in a row to end the week.  Every time that happens, there's a chance it will grow into a broader show of support.  The emphasis here is on "chance."  It hasn't been a chance worth taking, and the pain of locking too early only to see rates improve is more tolerable than the pain of anticipating a top in rates and being wrong.