The Wall Street Journal – Junk-Bond Rebound Signals Easing Fear The riskiest part of the U.S. corporate-bond market is staging a comeback, marking an upswing in investor confidence following a turbulent start to the year. Returns on junk bonds, debt issued by heavily indebted companies that carry low credit ratings, turned positive for 2016 this… Continue reading Junk Bonds
Bloomberg Gadfly – Marcus Ashworth: Dutch Investors Doze as Wilders Looms The Netherlands has a general election on March 15, the ides of March no less, which Prime Minister Mark Rutte has billed as a chance to stem the tide of nationalism in Europe. The Dutch bond market, meanwhile, seems to be asleep at the… Continue reading Dutch Election Update
Bloomberg View – Lisa Abramowicz: Top-Rated Credit Is Poised to Fall Crises often occur when investors suddenly realize their foolproof investments actually aren’t. That’s when individuals rush to withdraw cash, aiming to avoid losses at all costs, their faith in predictable returns shaken profoundly. It appears just such a spasm may await the $5.7 trillion U.S. investment-grade… Continue reading U.S. Companies Are More Leveraged Than Any Time Since 2002
Bloomberg Business – Fed Takes Fear Out of Markets as Volatility Plunges in Bonds, FX Gauges of rates, currencies volatility fell to 2017 lows From traders in the $13.9 trillion U.S. Treasury market to those dealing currencies around the globe, signs are mounting that there’s little in the pipeline for them to get worked up about… Continue reading Volatility Continues To Fall
Bloomberg Business – Global Profit Bulls Triumph for First Time Since 2011 Bulls betting on rising earnings to support the rally in global equities are getting some validation. The number of stock analysts raising their profit estimates for firms worldwide has exceeded those lowering them for three straight weeks, according to Citigroup Inc.’s earnings-revisions index. The… Continue reading Global Profits Rise
Bloomberg – Hedge Funds Gird for Stock Selloff as Valuations Rattle Nerves Managers cut holdings in U.S. banks, base metals and buy gold U.S. stocks have piled up $1.5 trillion in market value this year, but hedge funds are bracing for tough times ahead.Based on buying and selling in 2017, managers have stopped loading up on… Continue reading Equities Pricing in Strong Consumer and Govt Spending
The Financial Times – Economists see room for Fed to lift rates 3 times in 2017 A buoyant stock market and improving US economic growth have given the Federal Reserve cover to lift interest rates three times this year, including when it meets in less than a fortnight, a Financial Times survey of top economists has… Continue reading The Outlook For The Fed
The Financial Times – Morgan Stanley Is Begging the Fed to Let Go of the Market’s Hand Fed’s communication strategy seen constraining bond activity Treasury yields will “remain subdued” until further Fedspeak The Federal Reserve has been holding the hand of the world’s biggest debt market far too tightly. So laments Morgan Stanley head of global… Continue reading Who Is In Charge Here…The Fed Or The Markets?
The Wall Street Journal – BIS Chief Economist Says Global Economy Still Struggling to Find Its Footing Trouble spots linger in global financial markets despite a period of relative calm as tensions emerged in China and other developing economies, according to the Bank for International Settlements latest quarterly review released Monday. Specifically, it identified volatile swings… Continue reading Federal Reserve and Markets Disagreeing with BIS and OECD
CNBC – The correlation between USD and commodities is now gone: Citi It’s a given in the market that there’s an inverse relationship between dollar strength and the price of commodities, but Citi Research argues that correlation is now gone.” Commodity prices have traded in a strong inverse relationship with the U.S. dollar over the… Continue reading U.S. Dollar’s Diminished Influence on Commodities, Breakeven Spreads
The Financial Times – What Trump’s Fed Might Look Like The Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy over the past five years has given a powerful boost to stock prices, but it also has resulted in at least one bad habit: Investors’ time horizon rarely extends beyond the next meeting of Federal Open Market Committee. Last week,… Continue reading The Trump Fed