Analysis Topic: Interest Rates and the Bond Market
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Key Technical Low for TLT U.S. Treasury Bonds ETF / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Based on my near-term as well as intermediate-term work, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treas Bond ETF (NYSE: TLT) established a very important technical low at 90.47 on Dec 15 off of the 109.34 high from Aug 25. That low was followed by a powerful upleg to 94.21 on Dec 20 that exhibited bullish form, which "warns" us that after the current pullback runs its course, an upside continuation rally should emerge that propels the TLT towards 99-100 next.
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Monday, December 27, 2010
U.S. States and Cities Going Bust, Day of Reckoning Is at Hand! / Interest-Rates / US Debt
At this very moment, cities and states all across this country are facing their day of reckoning, with far-reaching consequences for the economy, investors and every American citizen.
This morning, I will show why this day is so urgent, how to protect yourself and even how to profit from the crisis. But first …
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Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Most Important Financial Development of 2010 / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Dan Ferris writes: Since November 1, long-term U.S. Treasury bonds have fallen 7% in value. That's not supposed to happen. But it's happening.
Since November 1, the municipal bond market has fallen 6%. That, too, isn't supposed to happen. But it's happening.
Friday, December 24, 2010
WSJ Under Reports New Jersey Pensions Deficit as $54 Billion, Actual is $174 Billion / Interest-Rates / US Debt
The Wall Street Journal reports New Jersey Pension Gap Hits $54 Billion.
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Alabama Town Defaults on Pensions, Files for Bankruptcy Protection / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2010
The dubious honor of being the first city in the nation to completely default on pension obligations goes to Prichard, Alabama. The city has sought bankruptcy protection twice and is flat broke. It faces a choice of paying to keep city services like police and garbage running or pay pensions. It selected the former.
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Long-Term U.S. Treasury Bonds, The Best Possible Investment? Think Again / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
TREASURIES -- the very name conveys a thing that is secure, protected, and will appreciate over time. Otherwise, it'd be called something like "TRASHeries" or "Mattress Stuffers." Then, there's the official seal of the US Department of Treasury: its image of a scale and a key symbolize "balance" and "trust."
And, finally, there's the mainstream economic experts who have it on good authority that long-term bonds increase in value during financial instability and uncertainty.
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Dangers and Opportunities in Muni Bond ETFs Crash / Interest-Rates / Exchange Traded Funds
Bonds of all kinds took a beating over the last few months — ever since Ben Bernanke began hinting he would launch another “quantitative easing” money-printing program.
Ben was true to his word. And the QE2 program was announced on November 3. Interest rates shot up in the following weeks. That was bad news both for individual bondholders and bond exchange traded funds (ETFs).
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
The Next Financial Meltdown, State Budgets Day of Reckoning / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Steve Kroft Reports On The Growing Financial Woes States Are Facing. The day of reckoning is at hand. Steve Kroft tells us what we need to know about the looming financial crisis that almost no one is talking about.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Bernanke Denies Printing Money. Mogambo Not Convinced, Buy Gold / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
No matter how much I try to calm down, I can't stop being angry about the unbelievable, towering arrogance of the horrid Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, when he actually said, "One myth that's out there is that what we're doing is printing money. We're not printing money. The amount of currency in circulation is not changing"!!
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monetary Watch December 2010: The Money Supply, a Triple From Here? / Interest-Rates / Money Supply
Our monthly Monetary Watch, an Austrian take on where we are on the monetary inflation front and what’s next…
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Fed’s Bullard Defence of QE2 is Full of Contradictions / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis was on CNBC Monday, December 20, 2010 mostly defending the Fed’s controversial $600 billion Treasury purchasing program (QE2) announced in Nov.
What struck me as totally self-contradictory were Bullard’s statements regarding the QE2, treasury yield, inflation expectations, and inflation, which I will outline and rebuff below.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Spotlight on European Government Bonds; Current State of the Sovereign Debt Crisis / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
Here are a few charts that show the current state of tension in regards to the European sovereign debt crisis. The charts also show why E-Bonds, the wet dream of Jean-Claude Juncker, is not going to happen.
Jean-Claude Juncker is President of the Euro Group and Prime Minister of Luxembourg (not to be confused with Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECB). Junker's plan, supported by the IMF is to combine the bonds of all the Eurozone countries into one entity, with a statement that E-bonds would end the crisis.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Bush Tax Cuts: How Investors Can Profit From the Compromise Tax Deal In 2011 / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Martin Hutchinson writes: With a compromise agreement that extends the Bush tax cuts for two more years, the Obama administration has given investors what they wanted - but not what they needed.
The compromise tax deal was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, and continues to draw fire from critics on both sides of the political aisle. The $858 billion tax package isn't paid for. In fact, it actually costs more than the controversial Obama stimulus plan that has been criticized for having little measurable impact - even as it caused the budget deficit and the U.S. debt burden to explode.
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Monday, December 20, 2010
US Treasury Bonds BubbleOmics: Next Stop 2.890% for the 10-Year / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
A bubble is when for some reason, be it because of manipulation of markets for one person’s gain and another’s pain, the insanity of crowds, or addiction to debt; prices of some “thing” gets wildly out of synch with the fundamental utility value of the thing.
Then there is a marked difference between what, in Wall Street slang, you can sell something for to someone dumber than you, today (Market Value); and what can reasonably expect to be able to sell same the thing for to someone smarter than you, tomorrow (Other than Market Value).
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
How to Protect Your Family and Wealth from the End of America / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Porter Stansberry with Braden Copeland write: The International Monetary Fund estimates the 20 largest industrial nations (known as the G20) are on course to see their combined government debt exceed 100% of their combined GDP within three years.
Debts of this size simply cannot be financed, let alone repaid. The first step in this great unraveling is underway – the collapse of the euro.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Insanity on the Potomac, U.S. Treasury Bond Investors Recoiling in Horror! / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Given the insanity on the Potomac last week, I cannot imagine a time when a clear vision of the future would be more crucial.
At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, President Obama signed a new fiscal package, which …
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
U.S. Economy Muddling Through, More Crises, More Global Risk Aversion Ahead / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
For the better part of 2009 and for the second half of 2010, the world’s focus has been on how dreadful things look in the U.S. and how great the opportunities are said to be everywhere else.
But despite all of the anti-dollar and anti-U.S. policy sentiment that has proliferated around the world, apparently the financial markets haven’t felt the same way!
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
Central Banking 101: What the Fed Can do as "Lender of Last Resort" / Interest-Rates / Central Banks
We’ve seen behind the curtain, as the Fed waved its magic liquidity wand over Wall Street. Now it’s time to enlist this tool in the service of the people.
The Fed’s invisible hand first really became visible with the bailout of AIG. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in June 2009:
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Bell Tolls for the U.S. Treasury Bond Market Investors / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
There is an old adage on Wall Street: no one rings a bell to signal a market top or bottom. Yet, I have found that bells do ring; it's just that few people know exactly what sound to listen for.
Perhaps the biggest and most liquid of all markets is for US government bonds. That market has been rallying for almost thirty years. The bull can be traced back to 1981, when Treasury bond yields peaked at about 15%. At that time, high inflation and a weakening dollar had justifiably squelched demand for Treasuries. Even the ultra-high interest rates were not enough to attract buyers.
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Friday, December 17, 2010
Shorting U.S. Treasury Bonds Using TBT / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
I have been highlighting higher Treasury yields since October 15 (well before the heard), and I also mentioned on December 8 that the move higher in Treasury yields would "pick up steam". But every price move has its limits, and the Ultra Short Lehman 20+ Year Treasury (symbol: TBT) is no different.
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