Archive for April, 2016

Corporate Defaults on the Rise

Friday, April 8th, 2016

Via the FT: The global corporate default has climbed to its highest level in seven years, led by oil and gas companies. This week saw four new corporate defaults, which took the overall tally to 40 for 2016, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said. That’s the highest year-to-date default tally since 2009. ...

JPMorgan Duration Survey: Quite Long

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

I have my grandfather hat on today so blogging will be light. This Bloomberg story , however, is newsworthy as it shows that participants are quite long fixed income. Via Bloomberg: RATES: Most Net Longs Since 2013 in Latest JPM Survey 2016-04-05 11:30:14.366 GMT By Robert Elson (Bloomberg) -- The JPMorgan Treasury Client Survey for ...

“A Graveyard for Bears”

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Investors plowed cash into long-VIX securities since Feb. 11 Fear gauge has plunged 52 percent over the same period Some of the most popular securities in the equity market have been at the center of some of its most misguided trades. Consider the last six weeks, when investors poured a record $2 ...

What to Watch Today

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: WHAT TO WATCH: * (All times New York) * Economic Data * 9:45am: ISM New York, March, est. 54.1(prior 53.6) * 10:00am: Labor Market Conditions Index Change, March (prior -2.4) * 10:00am: Factory Orders, Feb., est. -1.8% (prior 1.6%) * Factory Orders Ex Trans, Feb., est. -0.5% (prior -0.2%) * Durable Goods Orders, Feb. F, est. -2.8% (prior -2.8%) * ...

Break Up the Big Banks

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via the WSJ: Neel Kashkari, the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, is positioning himself as an unlikely regulatory threat to the nation’s biggest banks. Six weeks after an attention-grabbing speech in Washington in which he called on government to consider breaking up big banks like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ...

Market Dependent Rather Than Data Dependent

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via the FT: For generations, “Don’t fight the Fed” was a mantra beaten into market neophytes by Wall Street’s grizzled veterans. Now the tables seem to have turned. The Federal Reserve’s unexpectedly dovish stance, reiterated by chair Janet Yellen last week, contrasts sharply with relatively firm economic data, and is stirring a ...

Greek Bonds Slump

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Greek shorter-dated notes leading drop show repayment concern German 10-year yield reaches lowest level in one month Greece’s bonds slid, with shorter-dated yields rising the most in almost two months, as International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the organization is “a good distance away” from an agreement that would ...

Some Corporate Bond Stuff

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: IG CREDIT: Record High 10-Friday Moving Avg; Pipeline Grows 2016-04-04 09:38:33.799 GMT By Robert Elson (Bloomberg) -- Secondary IG trading ended with a Trace count of $14b Friday vs $22.9b Thursday, the highest volume session back to March 2005 when the series began. * 10-DMA $16.4b; 10-Friday moving avg $15.6b, the highest since March 2005 * 144a ...

FX

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Via Marc Chandler at brown Brothers Harriman: Drivers for the Week Ahead Yellen’s dovish speech last week did much damage to the dollar’s outlook; the Fed will release minutes from its March meeting on Wednesday The ECB releases minutes from its March 10 meeting on Thursday Strains within the Eurozone will intensify after ...

SEC Investigates JPM Traders’ Departures

Sunday, April 3rd, 2016

Via the FT: The top US securities watchdog has launched an investigation into government debt trades made by two former JPMorgan Chase employees who left the bank earlier this year after a dispute over compliance procedures The Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry, which is in its early stages, steps up the pressure ...