Archive for October, 2014

Protesters Take to Street (Again) in HK

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Talks between the government and protesters in Hong Kong have unraveled and students have once again taken to the streets of that island in protest. This story had shifted to the back burner but if the situation remains unsettled it may re emerge  as another factor in the current round ...

Credit Esoterica From Merrill Lynch

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Via Merrill Lynch Research: Breaking up is easy to do. US-European interest rate differentials are near historical highs whereas credit spread differentials remain near - though notably off - historical lows. With the economies out of sync, and resulting opposite central bank policies, our global interest rate strategists expect the rates ...

Negative on France

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Via a fully paid up subscriber: And, France Outlook to Negative from Stable, AA/A-1+ Affirmed by S&P  15:19 The French government’s budgetary position is deteriorating in light of France’s constrained nominal and real economic growth prospects, S&P says.

Dallas Fed’s Fisher

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Via Bloomberg: *DJ Fed's Fisher: Time To Reconsider 'Considerable Time' Phrase *FISHER: TIME FOR FOMC TO RECONSIDER 'CONSIDERABLE TIME' PLEDGE *FISHER COMMENTS TO REPORTERS AFTER SPEECH IN DALLAS *FISHER: INFLATION EXPECTATIONS STABLE, HAVEN'T COME DOWN MUCH *FISHER: PLEASED WITH PRICE STABILITY *FISHER: HIGHER DOLLAR 'A BIT OF A SUPPRESSANT' OF INFLATION *FED'S FISHER SAYS 'TRIMMED MEAN' INFLATION ...

Kansas City George Headlines

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Via Bloomberg: *KC FED'S GEORGE: ECONOMY IN FAR BETTER SHAPE TODAY *KC FED'S GEORGE: KEY DRIVER OF US ECONOMY IS CONSUMERS *GEORGE: THIS IS NOT A 'BOUNCE-BACK' KIND OF RECOVERY *FED: GEORGE IS POINTING OUT ECON IMPROVEMENT IN LINE WITH HER HAWKISH VIEWS. *GEORGE: SEE LONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENT AT 5.5%, NOT VERY FAR AWAY

Corporate Issuance This Week

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Via Bloomberg: IG CREDIT: Weekly Issuance Stats; Tenors, Ratings, Sectors 2014-10-10 14:58:19.242 GMT By Lisa Loray Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- $21.875b priced from 21 issuers in 27 tranches for the week ending Oct. 10, the 28th week this year to price more than $20b.  Monthly volume $33.275b, YTD $1.125t. * Daily volume was heaviest on Monday, in ...

Swap Spreads

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Swap spreads are in 1/4 across the curve. One trader noted that hedge funds were long spreads as a hedge against short positions in the cash market. They have been doing the P and L management trade by covering their bad shorts in cash and receiving swaps to unwind the ...

Treasury Market Update

Friday, October 10th, 2014

The Treasury market has an orderly demeanor today. One PM notes that positions are more in balance today than previously. He offers the following chronology. On the day of the minutes the market screams higher and the curve steepens and the dollar dips hard. Hedge funds and other proprietary types ...

Treasury Flow

Friday, October 10th, 2014

One dealer reporting heavy sales of 5s and 30s be end users. He sent me that at about 900AM when I was still on the elliptical machine so it is a tad dated.

Retail Spending lagging

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Bank of America is a colossus which bestrides the financial world and has a reach deep into the American pocketbook. The firm has the ability to track credit card spending and make some intelligent guesses regarding the consumer. Currently they find spending on the soft side and express some concern ...