Archive for September, 2014

FX

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Via Brown Brothers Harriman: Dollar Rangebound, Awaiting Fresh Signals - Kansas City Fed President George came out with some hawkish remarks yesterday, but we do not place much weight on them - There were some interesting developments out of Japan regarding FX and sanctions against Russia - German IFO for September came in at ...

Secondary Market Corporate Bond Trading Yesterday

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Via Bloomberg: IG CREDIT: Volume Rises, Spreads Ease Wider; SUNTOR to Price 2014-09-24 09:46:25.462 GMT By Robert Elson Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The final Trace count for secondary trading was $15.1b vs $10.6b Monday and $14.7b the previous Tuesday. 10-DMA $13.1b; 10-DMA of only Tuesday sessions $12.7b. * 144a trading added another $2.3b of IG volume * BAC ...

On the Imperial Presidency

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Professor Jonathan Turley  of George Washington University is a left wing college professor who has been on a crusade against the imperial Presidency and executive overreach. He has written a post at his blog on the new bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria and the unconstitutional nature of that action. In ...

SEC Investigates Pimco

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Via the WSJ: Pimco ETF Draws Probe by SEC Regulators Are Probing Whether Returns Were Artificially Inflated for an ETF at Bill Gross's Firm By Kirsten Grind, Gregory Zuckerman and Jean Eaglesham Sept. 23, 2014 10:03 p.m. ET The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. artificially boosted the returns of a ...

Draghi Speaks

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Mario Draghi was on French radio saying that rates would stay low for as long as it takes to put inflation back at 2 percent. Via Reuters: (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will keep monetary policy loose for as long as it takes to push ultra-low inflation in the euro zone ...

Negative Yield

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Short term rates are plunging and some T bill rates went negative yesterday. The WSJ chronicles the reasons for the search for yield in the front end. Among the culprits are the FOMC cap on reverse repo, negative rates in Europe and quarter end window dressing. Via the WSJ: Treasury-Bill Yield Tips ...

A Change is Gonna Come

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

That was the title of a Sam Cooke song circa 1965 which became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement. According to Wikipedia the song was inspired by incidents in Cooke's life in which he experienced the harsh sting of racial discrimination. In addition Wikipedia reports that Cooke was so ...

Merrill Lynch on Credit Spreads

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

Via Merrill Lynch Research:   Spreads vs. Rates 101. For those that forgot, this week has been a reminder of what the textbook relation between credit spreads and interest rates looks like - i.e., negative correlation, as in lower rates, wider spreads. That represents a departure from both the bigger picture post ...

Breakevens Declining

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

The FT writes on the decline in inflation expectations as measured by TIPS. Via the FT: Treasury market cuts US inflation outlook By Michael Mackenzie The US bond market has slashed expectations of future inflation to their lowest level in nearly three years, highlighting the challenge facing the Federal Reserve as it moves towards ...

light Volume Day

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

Via CRT Capital Treasury volumes were light on Tuesday – not a surprise given the lack of inspired developments.  Overall, cash trading at just 71% of the 10-day moving-average.  5s retained the position as the most active issue throughout the day, ending with a 38% marketshare.  10s were a distant second ...