Tag Archives: bond yields

It infects every boardroom across the world. Big business requires decent forecasting, yet time and again it seems they are deprived of what they desperately need. Instead, even after this last decade, the world’s largest companies continue to be surprised by weakness that is far more prevalent than strength. It has been the one constant. Central bankers declare their policies successful, ignoring mountains of...

Since I don’t speak Japanese, I’m left to wonder if there is an intent to embellish the translation. Whoever is responsible for writing in English what is written by the Bank of Japan in Japanese, they are at times surely seeking out attention. However its monetary policy may be described in the original language, for us it has become so very clownish. At the end of last July, BoJ’s governing body made a split...

Closing the book on Q4 2016 balance sheet capacity is to review essentially forex volumes. The eurodollar system over the last ten years has turned far more in this direction in addition to it becoming more Asian/Japanese. In fact, the two really go hand in hand given the native situation of Japanese banks. As expected, data compiled by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows the same negative tendencies...

Looking back on late 2015, it is perfectly clear that policymakers had no idea what was going on. It’s always easy, of course, to reflect on such things with the benefit of hindsight, but even contemporarily it was somewhat shocking how complacent they had become as a global group. In the US, the Federal Reserve “raised rates” for the first time in a decade on the same day they released industrial production figures...

Recent rises in benchmark bond yields have caused us to revise upwards our year-end forecasts for US Treasury and Bund yields.We have revised our year-end target for the 10-year US Treasury yield from 1.7% to 2% and for the 10-year German Bund yield from 0.08% to 0.3%.Since the end of September, markets’ inflation expectations have rebounded, with euro and USD 5Y5Y inflation swap rates and 10-year breakeven yields rising. This rise is due to several factors, the most obvious one being the...

But investors should keep in mind that yields on government bonds could easily spike Global bond yields have plunged to new lows in recent days, as markets have switched to ‘risk off’ mode. This is just the latest manifestation of a trend: sovereign bond yields have been under downwards pressure for several years. Central bank QE and economic uncertainty are partly to blame. But investors should remember that sovereign bonds are not risk-free assets. And yields could easily jump over the...

The Safe-haven government bond bubble did not pop, but Italy or Spain have become low yielders as well Government bond yields under 10 years for safe-havens are close to zero. In April 2013, even 20 year bond yields are less than 3%, What can explain this bubble of the century? Latest Data May 2015: A big Bond Sell-Off has started (from JGBs, over German Bunds to US Treasuries). Via Zerohedge: Having briefly tested above 3.00% on Thursday, for the first time since December 2nd, 2014, the...

“The top 25 hedge fund managers made more than all the kindergarten teachers in the country,” declared President Obama in a discussion of poverty at Georgetown University. Calling them “society’s lottery winners,” he proposed to hike their taxes. Hedge Funds vs Kindergarten: Who is worth more? Predictably, battle lines have been formed between two polarized sides. One side—let’s call them the Gauche for convenience’s sake—is unhappy with the pay disparity. CBS News, in an almost neutral...