Archive for January, 2009

Opening Comments January 14 2008

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Prices of Treasury coupon securities remain ensconced safely in their recent range and retreated modestly in overseas trading. Economic data released overnight once again provide evidence of an enfeebled and enervated economy. I suspect that the catalyst for the modest price declines is supply. Bloomberg reports that Japan and Italy ...

Libor

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Libor US$ Fixing                  1/14         1/13      Change OVERNIGHT     0.10500      0.10375     0.00125 1 WEEK        0.23250      0.23625    -0.00375 2 WEEKS       0.26500      0.27750    -0.01250 1 MONTH       0.32875      0.33313    -0.00438 2 MONTH       0.84000  ...

Sovereign Credit Concerns in Europe

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

I did not write this and the author does not wish to be attributed. It is interesting and worthwhile reading and makes me wonder if the US will escape unscathed. It is a long way to a move by one of the (hoople) credit agencies but when the President elect ...

Administrative Note

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

I have some personal business to attend to so it is unlikely that I will post again until tomorrow morning.  Have a great day.

MBS and Swaps

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Mortgages opened tighter but have since faded and are pretty much in line with Treasuries. The Federal Reserve and the orignators are in a steel cage death match as they grapple with $3billion to $4billion of production and purchases each day. (The Fed is buying and and the originators as ...

Corporate Bonds

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

In the land of corporate bonds industrial names are unchanged and bank and financial paper languishes. That sector is wider by about 10 basis points. The new issue calendar is heavy today. Federal Express is offering $1billion of 5s and 10s. Price talk is 575 and 550 respectively. That is a ...

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same Department

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

More problems at the FHLB. This time in Seattle. Via Bloomberg. As far as I can tell the market is inured to this news and there has been no selling or spread widening. And that possibly results from the Desk's agency pass in which they bought $3.5 billion of paper in the ...

MBS

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Mortgages are opening about 2/32 better to swaps. Origination selling has been light. Real money has purchased MBS versus benchmark Treasuries.

Bernanke Speech

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Here is link the text of the Bernanke speech. It is very long and very professorial exegesis of the credit crisis and the response of the Federal Reserve to the crisis. Here are a couple of points: He describes how the Federal Reserve can influence interest rates and have market impact even ...

IG 11

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

The IG 11 is opening four basis points wider at 219/222.