Archive for May, 2015

Greece and the IMF

Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

For the Greek populace and Greek economy June could replace April as the cruelest month because that financially troubled state must repay 1.6 billion Euros to the IMF in that month. Here is an excellent Bloomberg primer on the topic: Cash-strapped Greece needs to repay almost 1.6 billion euros ($1.76 billion) to ...

Overnight Flows

Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

Dealers report an active session with buyers predominating. Asian banks and credit hedgers bought Long Bonds. Japanese money managers and Japanese based trading accounts bought Long Bonds. Asian banks bought 5s and 10s. Trading accounts initiated 5s 30s flatteners. Central banks sold 3s through 5s and other central banks bought ...

Early Morning FX Musings

Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

Via Kit Juckes at SocGen: <http://www.sgresearch.com/r/?id=hdd0fe1d,12c2aceb,12c2acec&p1=136122&p2=8b8954ecb9b291938052f3ddcf9dd6cf> The Greek government will need some form of deal in order to release further funds if it is to avoid missing payments to the IMF in June. Whether Greek PM Tsipras can negotiate a deal that is acceptable to enough MPs of his party isn't clear ...

China Bond Default

Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

Via the FT: CompaniesChina soft-drink bottler warns on bond default For all the fizz in China's Shenzhen Composite, it's ironic that one company missing out happens to be a soft-drink bottle maker. Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprises has warned it won't be able to fully repay a 590m yuan ($95m) bond, which comes due on ...

Trading Volume Slumps

Monday, May 25th, 2015

Via the WSJ: By John Carney May 25, 2015 12:08 p.m. ET 0 COMMENTS Trading is once again in the doldrums. That is likely to be one of the messages arising from a Bernstein Research conference to be held this week in which the chiefs of Bank of America, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase all ...

Yellen Speech Friday

Monday, May 25th, 2015

I was traveling on Friday and missed the Yellen speech and associated commentary on it. Here is the piece which Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities published on Friday in which he discusses her comments. Via Stephen Stanley at Amherst Pierpont Securities: Chair Yellen’s speech will no doubt mark the beginning of ...

Data Dependent

Monday, May 25th, 2015

Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Fischer noted in speech in Israel this weekend that the FOMC rate hike cycle is data dependent and not date dependent. He also offered the salient point that when they do hike rates they moving from ultra expansionary policy to extremely expansionary policy (which is ...

Mester Says Rate Hikes on Table at Every Meeting

Monday, May 25th, 2015

Via Bloomberg: Accelerating inflation and strong employment growth are pushing the U.S. economy close to the point where it can support higher interest rates, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said.“If the data comes in according to my forecasts then the time is near where we’re going to be ...

Administrative Note

Friday, May 22nd, 2015

Acrossthecurve.com is closed for the holiday weekend.   Enjoy the holiday safely and remember those who died to preserve our freedom.  

Overnight Preview

Thursday, May 21st, 2015

Via Robert Sinche at Amherst Pierpont Securities: JAPAN: The BOJ announces the outcome of their policy meeting with no changes to the ongoing purchases of JGBs expected. NEW ZEALAND: Consumer Confidence has been creeping irregularly higher through the first 4 months of the year, and any increase in May would likely mark ...