Fri, Jan 15 2016, 7:32 AM
It's been an utterly hopeless week for domestic economic data so far, with nary a top tier report in sight. Not only that, but after last week's ADP ...
Fri, Jan 15 2016, 4:00 PM
What's a risk meltdown? What's a "risk market" for that matter? This is just a shorthand term for anything investors are normally buying when stoc...
Thu, Jan 14 2016, 7:32 AM
Sometimes all the analysis and planning in the world can't prepare you for how something actually transpires. More than a few traders had plans headi...
Thu, Jan 14 2016, 5:24 PM
Bond markets only managed to hold steady today, and it felt like the worst day of the year . There are mortgage-specific reasons for that, however, ...
Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:33 AM
Yesterday's bond market rally came out of left field, not just for market watchers, but for market participants as well. In fact, one of the driving...
Wed, Jan 13 2016, 5:41 PM
10yr yields fell 1.4bps today and Fannie 3.0s ended the day 3/32nds better in price. Those stats could describe any bland, uneventful day for bond ...
Tue, Jan 12 2016, 7:33 AM
There have been and continue to be two distinct ways to view the past week and half. The first is to consider the weakness in stocks and the gains ...
Tue, Jan 12 2016, 5:36 PM
Today was interesting in the sense that it challenged some of the assumptions that have been easy to hold so far in 2016, namely: that bond markets ...
Mon, Jan 11 2016, 7:33 AM
One of my favorite wry market witticisms over the years is a variation of the seminal: " the trend is your friend ." This seemingly obvious, simplist...
Mon, Jan 11 2016, 6:37 PM
As we've been discussing fairly regularly, bond markets have been consistently dragged to better and better levels so far in the new year, by massive ...
Fri, Jan 8 2016, 7:25 AM
Bond markets were able to put some green on the screen again yesterday, but that's not as positive a development as it normally is. We talk sometimes...
Fri, Jan 8 2016, 6:54 PM
Today's NFP data was exactly what we needed to let us know what has been going on so far in 2016. It was so strong that it left no doubt as to how ...
Thu, Jan 7 2016, 10:21 AM
Bond markets continue defying the odds so far in 2016, with another strong performance in the overnight session (although things may be leveling off...
Thu, Jan 7 2016, 8:26 PM
Bond markets continue being forced to go wherever global equities markets tell them to go. The sheer scale of the selling in China, Europe, and the U...
Wed, Jan 6 2016, 9:06 AM
Bond markets are coming out of the overnight session with a pleasantly surprising advantage, and a good reminder that our fate can be influenced by m...
Wed, Jan 6 2016, 6:31 PM
Bond markets had a great day. Right from the start of the overnight session, Asian equities markets were pulling global bond yields and stock price...
Tue, Jan 5 2016, 7:33 AM
Bond markets are currently in a sort of disheartening position. The Fed rate hike means that most rates should move higher, even if that happens wi...
Tue, Jan 5 2016, 5:41 PM
Although there were no significant economic reports on tap today, bond markets still faced a few hurdles--more than 20 billion of them, in fact. That...
Mon, Jan 4 2016, 7:33 AM
There are several types of traders that play key roles in the bond market. Their motivations and concerns can be surprisingly diverse . For instanc...
Mon, Jan 4 2016, 6:57 PM
It was the first day back from the holiday market delirium and market participants needed a touchstone to kick things off. They found it in the form ...
Thu, Dec 31 2015, 8:51 AM
Today is a very exciting day for bond market participants. Most of them are on vacation, or at the very least, in a vacation-like state of mind. The...
Thu, Dec 31 2015, 3:53 PM
Pre-announced bond buying programs are really quite something. They have all ended up being well-telegraphed enough to allow investors to do their o...
Wed, Dec 30 2015, 9:26 AM
Bond markets--especially Treasuries--had one of their worst days of the month yesterday. Or maybe they didn't... It's hard to say for sure when vo...
Wed, Dec 30 2015, 5:59 PM
The overnight session was much less interesting for Treasuries today (compared to yesterday). In the sense that European bonds weren't pushing yields...
Tue, Dec 29 2015, 9:14 AM
There continues to be little to observe or conclude in this 'holiday-light' trading environment. While today's data will provide at least something...
Tue, Dec 29 2015, 5:09 PM
Treasuries were significantly weaker today as oil, Europe, and equities all bounced higher. The move was led by a reversal in European bond markets...
Mon, Dec 28 2015, 9:15 AM
2015's winter holidays are laid out nicely for financial markets. Both Christmas and New Years Day fall on Fridays. This makes it much easier to pre...
Mon, Dec 28 2015, 7:35 PM
While oil prices did move lower in the overnight session, and while stock markets followed that move, bond markets were a bit more independent. Speci...
Thu, Dec 24 2015, 7:32 AM
It's hard to look at the ultra long term correlation between Fed Funds and mortgage rates and NOT be concerned about rates moving higher in 2016. ...
Thu, Dec 24 2015, 1:53 PM
stone silent and slightly positive
no economic motivation
a few traders closed short positions, which helps bonds improve
Today was by far...
Wed, Dec 23 2015, 7:32 AM
It's no mystery that bond markets have been remarkably flat this holiday season. While the absolute range in 10yr yields during that time has been ...
Wed, Dec 23 2015, 5:32 PM
While "whatever it takes to stay sideways" makes it sound like some sort of passionate goal, it's really just a byproduct of the season (or a simple...
Tue, Dec 22 2015, 7:33 AM
Today's chart illustrates the liquidity challenges that crop up at this time of year. The difference between last Friday and yesterday was really nig...
Tue, Dec 22 2015, 7:06 PM
Super light volume and participation
Data was overlooked (on-target GDP and weaker Existing Sales)
Oil and European yields pushed US rates a bit...
Mon, Dec 21 2015, 7:33 AM
This week represents an age-old question for financial markets: Will markets be moved more by the results of the data or simply due to the illiquid ...
Mon, Dec 21 2015, 6:44 PM
Heading into this week, we were well within our right to expect things to be slow for financial markets. Christmas is on Friday. Thursday is a half ...
Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:30 AM
With the relatively extreme importance of a Fed meeting that fell on December 16th, it was easier to overlook the fact that Christmas is next week . ...
Fri, Dec 18 2015, 5:40 PM
Low volume sets in for holidays
Asian markets shed risk on China/Japan headlines
Another new multi-year low for oil
stocks slide
all of th...
Thu, Dec 17 2015, 7:33 AM
Yesterday Yellen said that economic expansions don't die of old age . What she meant to say is that the Fed has been thinking a lot about the irrefu...
Thu, Dec 17 2015, 5:45 PM
Today didn't add much to the bigger picture. With the Fed hike so well telegraphed and the weakness over the previous 3 days, we may well have assume...
Wed, Dec 16 2015, 8:20 PM
MBS traded less than a 3/8ths point range to end down an eighth of a point (Fannie 3.5) and 10yr yields traded an 8 bp range to end LESS THAN ONE BAS...
Wed, Dec 16 2015, 7:33 AM
Sometimes we approach days with big-ticket events with great anticipation only to be let down by the amount of excitement offered. Today is a bit di...
Wed, Dec 16 2015, 2:09 PM
Naturally, this is the most changed Fed Announcement in recent memory. Strike-through indicates previous text. Underline indicates new text.
Releas...
Tue, Dec 15 2015, 7:33 AM
Bond markets sold-off in a fairly big way yesterday, and for no particular reason apart from the fact that they rallied in a fairly big way on Friday....
Tue, Dec 15 2015, 5:38 PM
There's very little to report--with respect to the second half of the day--that hasn't already been covered in the quick and dirty bullet points from ...
Tue, Dec 15 2015, 1:34 PM
Here is the quickest and dirtiest way to look at bond movements over the past few days, in bullet points:
This month's ECB shocker (12/3) defle...
Mon, Dec 14 2015, 7:33 AM
Roughly 3 months after the Fed's last stellar opportunity to enact its long-anticipated rate hike, we come to meeting that is all but certain to host ...
Mon, Dec 14 2015, 5:44 PM
It's the latest fad: junk bonds! You might not even know what that is, and you certainly don't need to. A junk bond is another term for a "high yi...
Mon, Dec 14 2015, 2:46 PM
With the much-anticipated Fed rate hike only 2 days away, volatility continues to build in financial markets. It's not that investors disagree abou...
Fri, Dec 11 2015, 7:32 AM
If this week's economic data and events were auditioning for some reality show, market participants would be like the judges. This would be like one ...