Mortgage rates rose today, resuming an upward trend that began last week after political turmoil in Italy began to die down.  More simply put, rates had been rising in mid May.  Italy's political turmoil caused enough concern about the fate of the Eurozone that investors moved money into bonds, thus helping rates move lower.  As risks subsided in Europe, rates have returned to similar levels as those seen in the first half of May.

Any talk of rejoining an upward trend that began last week is a bit misleading.  In fairness, the broader trend has been toward higher rates since last September.  Last week's move was one of the many volatility little episodes inside the broader trend.

One of the driving forces behind the broader trend is the current state of central bank policy (The Fed, and The European Central Bank, for example).  With that in mind, investors are already gearing up for next week's announcements from both central banks.  Depending on what's said, we could either be looking at another move to the highest rates in years or another nice little break from the unpleasant trend.