The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that leading fixed mortgage rates have oscillated in a 20-basis-point range for three months. Guest columnist Robert McLister writes that the market's essentially holding its breath, waiting for a catalyst. No one knows when we will break out of this rate rut. Mr. McLister, however, says he would bet his Detroit Lions tuque collection it will not drag past a few more months. In the meantime, he says the mortgage rate market is quieter than an electric car funeral procession. This week's only sign of life among national lenders was a modest six-basis-point drop in the lowest insured 10-year fixed rate. Unsurprisingly, Canadians are about as eager to lock into a 5.13-per-cent 10-year mortgage as they are to prepay their dentist. Of course, locking in for 10 years could be a deal if the bond market collapses because politicians (especially in the United States) do not know how to balance a budget. In fact, big shot bankers like JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon are warning of just that possibility. Still, it is an anomaly for a 10-year fixed to save someone more than a shorter term would -- rarer than a balanced federal budget.