They say the only constant is change... And more change is coming,

	...as the sweeping Financial Regulation Bill was passed by the Senate last week and will be signed by President Obama in short order to become law. So what does this change mean... and how will it impact home loan rates? Here's what you need to know. Save as Draft The Bill calls for a new consumer protection agency and prohibits Banks from taking risky bets. While those things are important, it's also important to realize that this legislation... over 2,000 pages worth... amazingly does nothing to address the core reasons for the financial collapse. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are completely left out of this legislation. The credit rating agencies, who may have played the largest role in the financial collapse, also go unmentioned.  In fact, when former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was asked about the Financial Regulation Bill, he noted that this was the first time the Fed was not asked to write a regulation of this kind. He also said that there are "unintended consequences" in every page of this bill. And one consequence we've seen already is that corporations are hoarding cash, and are somewhat stuck like a deer in the headlights due to the uncertainty that this and other pending legislation is creating. And when corporations hoard cash, they don't typically hire workers, and job creation is crucial to our recovery. In other news, there hasn't been much change on the inflation front, which is good news for Bonds and home loan rates. Remember: inflation erodes the return of an asset like a Bond... so inflation is the arch enemy of Bonds and home loan rates. Both the Producer Price Index - which measures inflation at the wholesale level - and the Consumer Price Index for June showed that inflation continues to remain tame. However, two changes that would be welcome are in the retail sales and manufacturing areas. Retail Sales for June came in lower than expected for the second month in a row. Although details of the report were mixed, the overall indication is that consumers and businesses remain cautious on purchasing big-ticket items.  In addition, the Empire State Manufacturing Index and Philly Fed Index showed that factories and manufacturing still look very sluggish overall. Changes for the better in both of these areas will be reflective of our economy growing stronger, and these are things to watch for moving forward.