Archive for April, 2014
Monday, April 21st, 2014
The Treasury market is particularly comatose and moribund this morning. Volumes are extremely thin and the folks who are kind enough to share information with me regarding client flows aver that unless I wanted them to fabricate something there are no meaningful client transactions this morning.
That did not preclude us ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Treasury Market Update
Monday, April 21st, 2014
Via the good folks at Bloomberg:
Capital One Financial Corp B'Mark Baa1/BBB 2 part 5 & 10 yr
ipt 5yr +90 area
10 yr +115 area
1 mo par call prior on 5 yr
U.S. Bank NA B"Mark AA3/AA- 2 yr frn
1 mo par call prior
ipt 3ml +15 area
U.S. Bancorp B'Mark A1/A+ 1/2 part ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Corporate Bonds This Far Today
Monday, April 21st, 2014
I guess the Treasury is thinking about scrapping the current auction cycle process for 10 year notes in which a new issue is offered in February, May,August and November and then reopened in the two succeeding months. I guess my opening sentence and the verb "scrapping" overstates the process but ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Monthly 10 Year Auction: Some Thoughts
Monday, April 21st, 2014
I have written about pension investors placing new money into fixed income investments and some peeling and some peeling off equities which have enjoyed galloping gains. The logic is that if you had an underfunded pension fund and enjoyed last year's equity returns,then selling the stock and booking the gains ...
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Monday, April 21st, 2014
Prices of Treasury coupon securities have rebounded in quiet overseas trading. The last day of trading in the US was on Thursday and that pre holiday session witnesses a late day swoon which brought 10 year yields above 2.70 with a close around 2.72. The issue had opened Thursday around ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 21 2014 Opening
Sunday, April 20th, 2014
The market sold off rather dramatically on Thursday and the 10 year note traded back to about 2.73. I had opened the issue at about 2.64 in the early morning on Thursday. In that sell off traders clubbed the 5 year note as if it was a baby seal. The ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Distended Belly
Sunday, April 20th, 2014
The FT has an interesting post on long term unemployment and wages. The article cites academic studies which posit that the long term unemployed are out of the work force and therefore will exert little downward pressure on wages. The folks who hold this view think that wage inflation is ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on A Whiff of Inflation Around the Corner?
Saturday, April 19th, 2014
The liberal Bible, the New York Times, counter intuitively reports on an increase in health care spending recently. The gist of the story is that after a period of stabilization health care spending is rising. Some of the increase results from the end of the Great Recession and the sharp ...
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Friday, April 18th, 2014
The FT has an article on shrinking trading profits at the large investment banks. It is not difficult to understand the problem. Regulation has limited opportunities for profit. The Federal Reserve has neutered volatility as the market trades in exceedingly narrow ranges for months at a time. Electronic trading has ...
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Thursday, April 17th, 2014
I am taking the rest of this shortened day off and will enjoy some time with my lovely wife and grandchildren.
Enjoy the day, and the holiday and the weekend.
Peace.
John Jansen
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »