Tag Archive: U.S. Treasuries

2017-10-07

The economic reports of the last two weeks were generally of a more positive tone. The majority of reports were better than expected although it must be noted that many of those reports were of the sentiment variety, reflecting optimism about the future that may or may not prove warranted. Markets have certainly responded to the dreams of tax reform dancing in investors’ heads with US stock markets providing a steady stream of all time highs, bond...

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Dollar & Stocks Jump; Bonds & Bullion Dump In Lowest Volatility September Ever

2017-10-05

by Tyler Durden

2017-10-05

It has now been 318 trading days since the S&P 500 suffered a 5% drawdown - the 4th-longest streak since 1928... So everything is awesome...BUT...US 'hard' economic data has not been this weak (and seen the biggest drop) since Feb 2009...Q3 Was a Roller-Coaster...Q3 was the 8th straight quarterly gain in a row for The Dow - the longest streak since Q3 1997.

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Weekly Technical Analysis: 02/10/2017 – USDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCAD

2017-10-05

by Raffi Boyadjian

2017-10-05

USDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCAD features

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It Was Collateral, Not That We Needed Any More Proof

2017-09-30

2017-09-30

Eleven days ago, we asked a question about Treasury bills and haircuts. Specifically, we wanted to know if the spike in the 4-week bill’s equivalent yield was enough to trigger haircut adjustments, and therefore disrupt the collateral chain downstream. Within two days of that move in bills, the GC market for UST 10s had gone insane.To be honest, it was a rhetorical exercise.

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Weekly Technical Analysis: 25/09/2017 – USDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD, NZDUSD

2017-09-28

by Raffi Boyadjian

2017-09-28

USDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD, NZDUSD features

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review: As Good As It Gets

2017-09-26

2017-09-26

The incoming economic data hasn’t changed its tone all that much in the last several years. The US economy is growing but more slowly than it once did and we hope it does again. It is frustrating for economic bulls and bears, never fully satisfying either. Probably more important is the frustration of the average American, a dissatisfaction with the status quo that permeates the national debate. The housing bubble papered over the annoying lack of...

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Swimming The ‘Dollar’ Current (And Getting Nowhere)

2017-09-26

2017-09-26

The People’s Bank of China reported this week that its holdings of foreign assets fell slightly again in August 2017. Down about RMB 21 billion, almost identical to the RMB 22 billion decline in July, the pace of forex withdrawals is clearly much preferable to what China’s central bank experienced (intentionally or not) late last year at ten and even twenty times the rate of July and August.

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Global Asset Allocation Update: Step Away From The Portfolio

2017-09-25

2017-09-25

There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are no changes to the portfolios this month. The post Fed meeting market reaction was a bit surprising in its intensity. The actions of the Fed were, to my mind anyway, pretty much as expected but apparently the algorithms that move markets today were singing from a different hymnal.

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COT Report: Black (Crude) and Blue (UST’s)

2017-09-15

2017-09-15

Over the past month, crude prices have been pinned in a range $50 to the high side and ~$46 at the low. In the futures market, the price of crude is usually set by the money managers (how net long they shift). As discussed before, there have been notable exceptions to this paradigm including some big ones this year.

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review: Waiting For Irma

2017-09-11

2017-09-11

This update will be a bit shorter than usual. I’m in Miami awaiting Hurricane Irma. As of now, it looks like the eye of the storm will make landfall near Key West and continue west of us with the Naples/Ft. Myers area at risk. Or at least that’s the way it looks right now. I’ve done a lot of these storms though – I lost a house in Andrew in ’92 – and you never know what these things will do. We are secure in a house that survived Andrew with barely...

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FX Weekly Review, September 04 – 09: Draghi Dovish? EUR and USD falling against CHF

2017-09-10

2017-09-10

The euro rose close to CHF 1.15 with the ECB meeting this week. Finally traders realized that the ECB committed not to hike rates for a very long time. The ECB will review and take a first decision on the bond purchasing program this autumn. However, this program will come to an end only when the inflation target of 2% becomes in reach.

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FX Weekly Review, August 28 – September 02: The end of big euro rise?

2017-09-03

2017-09-03

For us, the sudden euro rise from 1.08 to 1.14 is an illusion, the euro will fall sooner or later again. Macron will not help the French economy and low core inflation will prevent that the ECB ends her bond buying program.

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Moscow Rules (for ‘dollars’)

2017-09-02

2017-09-02

In Ian Fleming’s 1959 spy novel Goldfinger, he makes mention of the Moscow Rules. These were rules-of-thumb for clandestine agents working during the Cold War in the Soviet capital, a notoriously difficult assignment. Among the quips included in the catalog were, “everyone is potentially under opposition control” and “do not harass the opposition.” Fleming’s book added another, “Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy...

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Hidden Forces of Economics

2017-08-31

by Keith Weiner

2017-08-31

We have noticed a proliferation of pundits, newsletter hawkers, and even mainstream market analysts focusing on one aspect of the bitcoin market. Big money, institutional money, public markets money, is soon to flood into bitcoin. Or so they say.

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Bi-Weekly Economic Review: Don’t Underestimate Gridlock

2017-08-30

2017-08-30

The economic reports released since the last update were slightly more upbeat than the previous period. The economic surprises have largely been on the positive side but there were some major disappointments as well. The economy has been doing this for several years now, one part of the economy waxing while another wanes and the overall trajectory not much changed. Indeed, the broad Chicago Fed National Activity index probably says it all, coming...

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FX Weekly Review, August 21 – August 26: Dollar Loses its Gains Against CHF

2017-08-26

2017-08-26

The broad technical condition of the dollar deteriorated materially before the weekend. The dollar had some gains versus the franc during the last month, but it lost all during the last days.The EURCHF continues with a 2.5% win for the last month.

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United States: The Fed Tries To Tighten By Rates, But The System Instead Tightens By Repo

2017-08-23

2017-08-23

U.S. Treasury CMT Yields, Jan 2017-Aug 2017

The Fed voted for the first federal funds increase in almost a decade on December 15, 2015. It was the official end of ZIRP, and though taking so many additional years to happen, to many it marked the start of recovery. The yield on the 2-year Treasury Note was 98 bps that day.

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Global Asset Allocation Update: No Upside To Credit

2017-08-21

2017-08-21

There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are other changes to the portfolio though so please read on. As I write this the stock market is in the process of taking a dive (well if 1.4% is a “dive”) and one can’t help but wonder if the long awaited and anticipated correction is finally at hand.

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FX Weekly Review, August 14 – August 19: CHF Recovers after Dovish Draghi Comments

2017-08-20