Archive for June, 2008

Closing Comments June 26 2008

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Prices of Treasury coupon securities surged today as a a confluence of factors sparked serious flight to the safety of Treasury debt. The prime mover was the tottering equity market and signs of financial distress. Goldman Sachs downgraded brokerage stocks and cast aspersions on GM. GM traded at a 50 ...

Agency Update

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Agency spreads are wider by about 3 basis points across the curve today. There was a smattering of buying of 2year bullet paper as well as short callable paper. One trader with whom I speak noted that volumes had declined sharply because, in his view, the smart money was busy ...

Structured Product Rumor

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

There is a repo desk circulating a bid list of structured MBS product and that action has struck fear into the hearts of participants. The concern is that this smacks of a counterparty in trouble and forced liquidation. The concerns rise as June 30 and balance sheet snap shot date ...

Corporate Bonds

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Corporate bond yields are moving wider. Often times I might use the verb "leaking" to describe the price action. But in this instance the pipe has burst a seam and they are "spraying" rather than leaking.One corporate bond salesman said that liquidity is impaired and the only inquiry is to ...

Update

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

The treasury yield curve continues to steepen and the 2 year/10 year spread is now 132 basis points. There are several factors contributing to the flight to the 2year note (which I am still long via the ETF SHY).The street has been rife with rumors today. There was an early ...

Some Overnight Treasury Flow

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Some overnight Treasury flow:Central bank seller of 10 year sector. Hedge fund and commercial bank buyers of 5 years. Bank seller of 2 year. End user from Japan buys 5s Asian end user sells modestly in 30 year sector

Some Opening Comments June 26 2008

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Prices of Treasury coupon securities are posting mixed results in overnight trading as various markets react to the FOMC statement yesterday. The jury seems to be delivering a verdict that the FOMC has spoken strongly but has failed to carry a big stick. Against that background the yield curve has ...

Closing Comments June 25 2008

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Prices of Treasury coupon securities are registering mixed results as participants react to the FOMC statement. In the immediate aftermath of the release of the FOMC statement yields jumped higher. The 2year note yielded 2.94 percent and the 5 year note traded as cheap as 3.63 percent. Yields across the ...

Agency Recap

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Agency spreads are tighter by 1 basis point to 2 basis points today. In general, agency spreads have been under pressure to widen of late as investors and traders have been reducing positions ahead of the quarter end balance sheet date on June 30. One veteran trader suggested that this ...

Corporate Bonds

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

The corporate bond market was nearly moribund today as participants hunkered down in the deep weeds to await the Statement from the FOMC which would frame monetary policy in the near term.Spreads tried to tighten early in the day as stocks stabilized and did better. The gains proved ephemeral and ...