What's New: I've updated the charts below through Thursday's close. The S&P 500 is fractionally off its all-time high set on April 2nd.The yield on the 10-year note closed today at 1.78%, which is the lowest daily close of 2013, matching the close on December 31st of last year.

The latest Freddie Mac Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey puts the 30-year fixed at 3.54%, down from its interim high of 3.63% in mid-March but 23 basis points above its historic low of 3.31%, which dates from the third week in November of last year.

Here is a snapshot of selected yields and the 30-year fixed mortgage starting shortly before the Fed announced Operation Twist.

For a eye-opening context on the 30-year fixed, here is the complete Freddie Mac survey data from the Fed's repository. Many first-wave boomers (my household included) were buying homes in the early

By Daniel J. Loewy

Believe it or not, recent U.S. housing market gains, the slight reduction in jobless rates and other signs of a revival in U.S. economic growth are making some investors bearish about U.S. stocks. We think their fears are misplaced.

The bears fear that the economic pickup could prompt the Federal Reserve to reverse course sooner than the market expects, driving bond yields up sharply -- and, in turn, pushing down stocks. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes did rise to as high as 2.058% in mid-March, up 67 basis points from their all-time low last July, but they are still extremely low by historical standards. During that six-month period, the S&P 500 returned 18%, reflecting both diminished fears of an unlikely but painful shock (such as the breakup of the euro) and increasing evidence that the U.S. economy and corporate earnings were strengthening.

Nonetheless, last week

What's New: I've updated the charts below through Thursday's close (February 21st). The S&P 500 has seen two days of selling and is now 1.86% off its interim high set on Tuesday. Many market watchers have been expecting a correction. But the yield on the 10-year note, which closed at 1.99%, remains where it has been hovering for the past four weeks. At this point the bond market isn't yet behaving as if the stock market were slipping into correction mode.

The latest Freddie Mac Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey puts the 30-year fixed at 3.56%. That's only 25 basis points above its historic low, which dates from the third week in November. However, its the highest weekly average since the end of August.

Here is a snapshot of selected yields and the 30-year fixed mortgage starting shortly before the Fed announced Operation Twist.

For a