Archive for February, 2008

Corporate Bond Story

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

If I spun a long story today, it would be a fable as there is not a lot to tell today. Issuance is rather light. It looks like Ryder Systems is doing a 5 year deal for $250M today.  In the present environment that name is not exactly one which ...

Random Thoughts on a Soggy Opening

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Bonds are taking a healthy battering this morning . Conversations with traders and portfolio managers delivers several divergent themes which might explain the price action. There is concern about the CPI data release tomorrow will be 0.3. European equity markets have recovered and the strong opening stateside diminish the flight to quality ...

Overnight Flow

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Some overnight flows: Central bank buying and swap desk selling of 5year. Central bank seller of 10year. End user buying 30 years. European sellers of long end. Portfolio seller of very short paper.

Politics

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Here is a very interesting story from the website and blog politico.com. It describes how the Democrat Party can engage in an act of self-immolation and self destruction. It might not be good politics but it will be great theatre if we reach that point.

Opening

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

 Prices of Treasury coupon securities are posting mixed results in overnight trading. Once again the 2 year Treasury note is the safest spot on the yield curve. The yield on that issue is essentially unchanged from levels which prevailed at the close of trading on Friday. Benchmark Treasury issues with ...

Some Overnight News

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

A story from the NY Times discussing the profit prospects of the big investment banks. Credit Suisse proves the point. Inflation rears its ugly head. Popular Fed facility. Leveraged loan lottery.

Trading in Tokyo

Monday, February 18th, 2008

It is 715PM ET in New York and trading has begun in Tokyo. Equity futures are higher by about 13 S and P points. The Japanese stock market is up as is Australia. European markets enjoyed gains of about 2 percent while the US was on holiday. I cant find ...

PBGC Bulls

Monday, February 18th, 2008

This is an interesting story via the FT regarding asset allocation at the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. They have increased their exposure to equities.  The fund is reducing its bond allocation to 45 percent from 72 percent currently. I find the story interesting because the behavior of the stock market is ...

President’s Day

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

The US financial markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the President's Day holiday.  When trading resumes on Tuesday it should be a busy week with a raft of housing data ,some inflation data ,as well as the release of the minutes of the last FOMC meeting.  I ...

A New Jewel for the Queen’s Crown

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

__________________________________ NEWS ALERT from The Wall Street Journal Feb. 17, 2008 The U.K. Treasury has decided to nationalize troubled mortgage lender Northern Rock in a surprise move that makes the government and British taxpayer the new owner of a financial institution that fell victim to the global credit crisis. The British government, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair ...