Archive for April, 2014

TD Bank’s Successful Bet on US

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

I still have some TD stock so I follow the Cad banks and the Cad dollar.   Via Bloomberg: Toronto-Dominion Tops Canada Banks on U.S. Bet: Riskless Return 2014-04-09 04:00:01.4 GMT By Doug Alexander April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Officer Ed Clark is showing Canadian rivals that you can bet on the U.S. without risking ...

Ten Year Auction Today

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

This is a particularly difficult auction to handicap. The issue has been trapped in an excruciatingly narrow range since the release of the February labor data on March 7. On that date the issue traded quickly (actually immediately) to 2.82 and then a flood of buyers emerged. Subsequently the issue ...

Greek Tragedy Unwound

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Greece was the cause of quite a bit of financial market angst in 2010 and 2011 as the nation went bankrupt and caused spreads on debt all over Europe to widen significantly. Times have changed and purportedly the country is on the road to fiscal purity. The country will issue ...

Overnight Flows

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Via CRT Capital: OVERNIGHT FLOWS: Treasuries were slightly lower overnight with little in the way of compelling new information.  Overnight volumes were light with cash trading at 80% of the 10-day moving-average, while TY came in at 90% of norms.  5s were by far the most active issue, taking a 43% ...

Mark Chandler on FX

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Via Mark Chandler of Brown Brothers:   The US dollar is mixed here at mid-week. The upside momentum seen in the euro, sterling, and yen yesterday has faded, and a consolidative tone has emerged in Asia and the European morning.  The Antipodean currencies have extended their gains and are at new highs.  The ...

April 09 2014 Opening

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Prices of Treasury  coupon securities have sagged in another listless overnight session. One note I received reported that trading volumes were about 70 percent of normal. The yield on the benchmark 10 year note climbed from 2.69 percent (830PM New York time) to 2.706 currently. The movement along the yield ...

From the Res Ipsa Loquitur Department: Hard to Find Value in Junk

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

The FT has a wonderful article on the junk bond market party and the hopes and dreams of participants that it will last forever. The last fellow quoted Michael Kastner  in another life was once a Treasury bill trader. So there is life after the Treasury market. Via the FT: April 8, ...

Earnings Seasons Begins

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Bank America Merrill Lynch on the beginning of earnings season: 1Q earnings season kickoff. Alcoa today kicked off the 1Q earnings season on a strong note, reporting EPS that beat the consensus estimates and subsequently trading about 3bps tighter in 5-year CDS. For the largest issuers in high grade credit the ...

Some Client Flows

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Via RBS Securities   Our Treasury flows saw better overall buying, net basis. Real$ bought 5's and 10's and though we had one large 30yr seller early, the size was easily absorbed and bonds traded firm throughout the session. Other real$ accounts sold 3's and bought 2's. In TIPS we had fast ...

Swap Spreads

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Swap spreads were unchanged out to 5 years and slightly tighter in 10s and 30s. One dealer noted receiving versus off the run 5 year paper. He also thought that spread should continue to narrow as Libor sets lower. There is also expectation of deal flow which will compress spreads. ...