Archive for March, 2008
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
It has been a frightening day in the financial markets. As one old friend describes it, “the wheels are falling off”. There are quite a few manifestations of the fear which pervades the market place and here are but a few:
The 2 year Treasury note traded to a low yield ...
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Some mortgage market bullet points:
FNMA 5 s 20/32 wider to swaps and 5 .5s 21/32 wider to swaps. And swaps are lagging Treasury debt.
Dealers report a buyers strike and a litany of requests which begin,”Bid wanted”!
Dealer positions of illiquid paper increase as repo desks force liquidations.
ABX meltsdown as hedge funds ...
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Corporate bond spreads (industrials) are about 5 basis points wider after opening unchanged. The fortunes of the corporate bond market reversed as stocks slipped into the abyss. Financial names are barely trading and that stuff is probably 10 basis points wider. There is some issuance but is smaller in size ...
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
The Bank of Canada lowered rates this morning. I enclose the statement which they released to announce the action. Slide down to the third paragraph as they lay out a gloomy forecast for the US economy and the global economy.
Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate target by 1/2 percentage point to ...
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Mortgage spreads are wider by about 7 basis points this morning . Dealers report selling by servicers. The market is thin and illiquid and it does not take many bonds to move spreads. Some participants note that the February 29 balance sheet date for several large investment banks led to ...
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Some overnight flows.
Option related buying of 10 years.
End user seller of long end.
Central bank buyers of 5 year agencies as well as 2year and 5 year Treasury debt.
Hedge fund buying in 10 year.
And some profit taking out of Asia and Japan on profitable steepening trades.
JJJ
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Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Prices of Treasury coupon securites are registering modest gains in overseas trading as the debilitating effects of the worldwide financial crisis continue to weigh on sentiment. The S and P futures indicate a rocky opening for equities as they are down about 13 points at the moment. Several stories are ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Opening Comments March 04 2008
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Prices of Treasury coupon meandered about in a narrow range at lower prices throughout most of the day as fears of an immediate financial Armageddon are deferred. US equities did not sink into some black hole and spent most of the day pretty close to flat. In early trading rumors ...
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Monday, March 3rd, 2008
The Treasury market has taken a bit of a respite from the rally mode which possessed it much of last week. It is 100PM ET and yields on Benchmark Treasury debt are higher by 2 basis points to 5basis points. Some were taken aback that the ISM was not more ...
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Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Corporate bond spreads opened wider with particular weakness in financial names. Bank and finance paper about 8 basis points to 10 basis points wider. Other sectors 2 basis points to 3 basis points wider but participants with whom I converse report very little trading. There is expectation of a heavy ...
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