<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg – U.S. Junk Bond Puts Climb to Record as Issuance Surges (No link) The number of bearish options on an exchange-traded fund tracking U.S. high-yield bonds jumped to an all-time high on concern that prices may drop after companies sold speculative-grade debt at the fastest pace ever.The number… Continue reading Junk Bond ETFs
Comment Yesterday we hosted a conference call/webcast titled “The Economy, Earnings And The Election.” If you missed it: Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/503842-642165.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=101″]
cnbc.com – Pre-Election Jobs Report Shows Some Gain; Rate 7.9% American job creation improved in October with 171,000 new jobs but the unemployment rate moved higher to 7.9 percent, setting the stage for a final push to the finish line in the heated presidential campaign. Economists had been expecting the report to show a net… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
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<Click on chart for larger image> The New York Times – Editorial: The Junk Is Back in Junk Bonds Junk bonds — debt issued by companies with low credit ratings — are growing junkier by the day, with ever weaker companies issuing bonds for ever riskier purposes. The bonds’ falling quality and rising risk, described… Continue reading Junk Bonds
The New York Times – Estimate of Economic Losses Now Up to $50 Billion Economic damages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy could reach $50 billion, according to new estimates that are more than double a previous forecast. Some economists warned on Thursday that the storm could shave a half percentage point off the nation’s economic growth… Continue reading Sandy Losses
The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Don’t cry for me, François French leader François Hollande is uncomfortably close to a collapse in credibility. His poll rating has sunk to 36pc. The speed of decline has been shocking. The latest broadside comes from ex-German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, supposedly his ally on the Left. “The election promises… Continue reading France
<Click on chart for larger image> Barron’s – Why the S&P Is Thrashing Hedge Funds It’s unusual for the funds to lag so far behind. Recent experience confirms that investing talent is a rare commodity. Of the thousands of hedge funds and other vehicles registered as Securities and Exchange Commission investment advisors, more than 150… Continue reading Hedge Funds’ Poor Performance
Forbes – Gold and the Wicked Magicians Why is there such hostility toward a return to a gold standard? After all, the U.S. prospered mightily by tying the dollar to gold from 1791 to 1971. (The exception was during the Civil War, but the link was resumed in the 1870s.) Other factors were at work,… Continue reading Resistance To A Gold Standard
The Economist – Corporate savings: Dead money Cash has been piling up on companies’ balance-sheets since before the crisis MONETARY stimulus gets you only so far. In America, third-quarter profits and revenues for companies in the S&P 500 index appear to have fallen year on year for the first time since 2009, according to Thomson… Continue reading Corporate Cash
Bloomberg.com – Japan May Have Entered Recessionary Phase, Some BOJ Members Say Japan’s economy, the world’s third biggest, may have entered a “recessionary phase,” according to some Bank of Japan board members. The possibility “could not be ruled out,” a few policy makers said at an Oct. 4-5 policy meeting, according to minutes released in… Continue reading Japan