Archive for August, 2015

Treasury Flows

Monday, August 24th, 2015

Treasury paper has retreated from its best levels. One dealer reports that the 10 year traded as low as 1.973 and I observed 5s at 1.375. In Asia dealers report fast money buying 10s. Bank portfolios sold 5s. Fast money and real money sold the back end but insurance company buying ...

Analytical Smorgasbord

Monday, August 24th, 2015

Via the FT: COMMENT"Black Monday" - what the analysts are saying With stock markets across the world sagging under a black cloud or fears about China's ability to power world growth, the world's financial experts are struggling to find silver linings. Here is a selection of Monday's commentary, Naomi Rovnick writes. Kit Juckes, of ...

Early FX

Monday, August 24th, 2015

Via Kit Juckes at SocGen: <http://www.sgresearch.com/r/?id=he768e4e,13c7155f,13c71560&p1=136122&p2=b7e70da9e864f42ee807272d0d1e78ba> Maybe it's just 'cos it's a Monday and yet again, we're replaying Friday's move rather than looking forward.  But I doubt it.... Markets are afraid of further economic weakness in China, further pain in global commodity markets and uncertain about Fed and PBoC policy - what they ...

Forward Inflation

Monday, August 24th, 2015

I just received this from a fully paid up subscriber domiciled across the pond: Eurozone 5y5y Inflation Forward Rates drop to 1.621%. Lowest Level in 6 months. Draghi’s Favourite Measure Of Inflation Expectations.

Larry Summers Says Rate Hike “Serious Error”

Sunday, August 23rd, 2015

Via Lawrence Summers in the FT:   Will the Federal Reserve’s September meeting see US interest rates go up for the first time since 2006? Officials have held out the prospect that it might, and have suggested that — barring major unforeseen developments — rates will probably be increased by the end ...

Fibonacci

Sunday, August 23rd, 2015

Via Barron's: By JOHN STEELE GORDON Aug. 22, 2015 3:11 a.m. ET Mathematicians often deal in abstractions that are quite beyond the ken of non-mathematicians. For instance, in 1637, the Frenchman Pierre de Fermat conjectured that there is no whole-number solution for the equation An + Bn = Cn where N is greater than ...

Precursor?

Sunday, August 23rd, 2015

Persian Gulf equity markets tumbled in weekend trading with some down as much as 7 percent. The FT article appended here suggests that is a bad sign for risk as we prepare for opening of Asian markets. I have never heard of any correlation between Persian Gulf markets and any ...

China Set to Cut Reserve Requirements (Again)

Sunday, August 23rd, 2015

Via the WSJ: By LINGLING WEI Updated Aug. 23, 2015 6:38 a.m. ET BEIJING—The People’s Bank of China is preparing to flood the country’s banking system with new liquidity to boost lending, according to officials and advisers to the central bank, as a weaker currency could spur more funds leaving Chinese shores. The step—which involves ...

Swap Market Commentary (Excellent Read)

Friday, August 21st, 2015

Via a fully paid up subscriber who is a market maker in plain vanilla swaps: Swaps Update Lots of questions surrounding the swap spread narrowing move in the risk off rally.  Positioning is long and spreads respond more to flows than fundamentals.  I think the opportunity here lies not in initiating wideners in the belly ...

Federal Funds Rate When Fed Tightens

Friday, August 21st, 2015

Via Bloomberg: Fed Won’t Be Able to Control Fed Funds With Precision: Barclays 2015-08-21 14:15:57.52 GMT By Alexandra Harris (Bloomberg) -- While the Fed has managed the effective fed funds rate within 0.5bp of FOMC’s target, there is “considerable uncertainty” where funds will trade within RRP/IOER band after liftoff, Barclays strategists Joseph Abate writes in weekly note. * Barclays ...