Archive for September, 2008

Closing Comment September 23 2008

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Prices of Treasury coupon securities have rallied today as fear still engulfs the financial markets. The main focus of participants today was the rescue package and the Congressional testimony of Bernanke, Paulson and Cox. The hearings were contentious and a bit of theater to feed the egos of politicians who ...

Corporate Crunch

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

There is a new issue corporate bond today from Caterpillar and the pricing of that issue is troublesome. Quite troublesome, and reflective of the dire straits of the credit market and the dysfunction which has engulfed the corporate market.Caterpillar announced a 5 year and a 10 year this morning. The ...

Money Market Stress

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

The money markets are not as stressed as they were last Wednesday when T bills traded to zero and even negative yields. However, the market is still under unusual strain and the result of the latest TAF auction reflects that tension. The stop out rate for the auction yesterday was 3.75 ...

Power Outage

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

I live on the south shore of Long Island and I receive my electric service from the Long Island Power Authority. They are generally quite reliable. However, this morning I lost all power as did a wide swath of the neighborhood in which I reside. So no computer and no ...

Paulson Testimony

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Paulson's prepared text is also unremarkable.

Swap Spreads

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Swap spreads are opening 5 basis points wider in the 2 year sector, 4 basis points wider in the 5 year sector, and 1 basis point wider in 10 year sector.

Bernanke Text

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

The Fed has released the text of the prepared statement which Chairman Bernanke will deliver before the Congress at 1000AM. I had posted some headlines which someone had sent to me. I gave the text a quick read and it is mostly a recitation and narrative on recent happenings. In my ...

Opening Comments September 23 2008

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Prices of Treasury coupon securities are posting solid gains in overnight trading and the propensity of the yield curve to steepen which manifested itself yesterday was still evident. The yield on the benchmark 2 year note slipped 8 basis points to 2.04 percent. The yield on the 5 year note ...

Credit Spreads

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

I am a little late this morning with my opening comments. I should be finished shortly. In the meantime I will post stuff as I receive information from the street.  In that regard, the IG 10 is now 154 1/2 / 156 1/2 . That is a couple wider than where they ...

IG 10

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

The IG 10 is opening a little wider this morning at 152/154 after closing yesterday at 150 1/2.