Category: Corporate Bonds
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Apple Stock Sells Record $17 Billion of Corporate Debt at Just 1.81% / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Apple borrowed $17 billion today in various maturity tranches, some floating rate and some fixed rate. The offering was oversubscribed by about 3 times.
It was the largest bond offering in history.
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Monday, December 03, 2012
A New Strategy for High Income Investing With Ultra-Low Risk / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Steve McDonald writes: The Wall Street Journal recently ran a segment about a fund that’s trading high-yield corporate bonds with virtually no risk! All compliments of a fold in the bond market that has been staring at us for the last hundred years – and no one noticed it.
This type of corporate bond is essentially pre-refunded. That means the money to buy the bonds back is already set aside, and the buyback date is already set – in some cases in as little as a week.
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Record Low Interest Rates Triggers Corporate Bonds Issuance Stampede / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
David Zeiler writes: With interest rates at or near historic lows, companies have been issuing corporate bonds at a breathtaking pace, setting a weekly record this month.
Excluding financial services companies, corporate borrowing for the week ending May 20 reached $29.7 billion, which beat the previous weekly record of $29.04 billion set last September.
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Thursday, May 19, 2011
Corporate Bond Spreads Match 2007 Market Highs / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Corporate bond spreads or the difference between investment grade (Aaa rated) and high yield (Bbb rated) are currently 80 basis points. They last reached these low levels in October 2007 at 79 basis points.
When this spread comes down to such low levels it signals an overbought corporate bond market as high yield debt no longer lives up to its name. Similar to the "dash for trash" in equity tops.
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Thursday, October 14, 2010
Will QE2 Go Corporate? / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Our friends on the bond markets have put their money where their mouths are with huge positions made in the past few weeks on short term government debt, demonstrating the likeliness that the Federal Reserve will force quantitative easing round two and buy up billions—maybe trillions—of dollars of debt.
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Monday, August 16, 2010
Corporate Bonds, The Safest Source of High Income Today / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Tom Dyson writes: What's the safest way to earn high income right now? You buy bonds...
American companies are absolutely loaded with cash. Take Microsoft, for example. It has $35 billion in cash and only $6 billion in debt. Accountants would say Microsoft has a net cash position of $29 billion.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Is it Safe to buy BP Junk Bonds? / Companies / Corporate Bonds
For fixed income investors, who seek a steady cash inflow from bonds, either to supplement their income, or to subsidize their retirement, - these are the worst of times. The so-called “risk-free” rate of return on money market deposits, or those of FDIC insured bank CD’s in the United States are offering a razor thin 7-basis points. Worse yet, the Federal Reserve might be a year away, before it has the courage to begin lifting short-term interest rates to more “normal” levels.
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Friday, September 11, 2009
Junk Bond Defaults Worst Since Great Depression, Why Is the Stock Market Rallying? / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Numerous people have asked for an update to Corporate Bond Spreads Key To Continued S&P Rally.
Specifically, inquiring minds are interested in my statement "It will pay to keep one eye on the credit markets to help ascertain long-term equity direction. In August of 2007 the corporate bond market cracked wide open. Although the S&P 500 made a new high in November, the corporate bond market didn't. It was the mother of all warning calls that most missed."
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Investment Grade Bonds Return 9.2%, Junk Returns 29%; Has the "Hard Money" Been Made? / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
As long as the corporate bond market is healthy there is going to be a bid on equities. And in the first half of 2009, junk bonds have been running.
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Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Some Corporate Bonds Looking Better than U.S. Treasuries / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Nilus Mattive writes: I think Mike Larson did a great job outlining the dangers of longer-term U.S. Treasury bonds in his past two Money & Markets columns. And like Mike, I continue to believe there is more pain ahead for that category of bonds.
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Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Corporate Bond Default Rate Highest Since Great Depression / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Moodys says Default Rate Surges to Highest Since Depression .Thirty-five companies defaulted in March, the highest number in a single month since the Great Depression, according to Moody's Investors Service.
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Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Commercial Real Estate Market in Limbo as Lenders Ignore Defaults / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
There is a new twist in commercial real estate action today. Lenders are ignoring defaults of $billions on commercial real estate as if nothing happened, praying that credit conditions will improve.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Hedge Funds Profit from Ratings Agencies AAA Rated Junk Bonds / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
- Unintended Consequences
- The I-Factor
- Rating Agencies Gone Wild
Rules have consequences. And sometimes they have unintended consequences. If I told you that the US government was going to give multiple tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to hedge funds and private investors, you would justifiably not be happy. I think the word angry would come to mind. But that is exactly what is happening, as a result of rules that were written for a time and place seemingly long ago and far, far away. Further, we are looking at potentially much larger sums being lost in the bank bailout (can we say hundreds of billions?), a reduced lending capacity at banks and, in general, a worsening of the very problems at the core of the crisis.
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Monday, February 09, 2009
Investment Strategy Favours Corporate Bonds / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
The worst employment report in well over a decade and the market jumps nearly 3% - could stocks be whistling past the graveyard or is there something more that we're missing? To be sure the news is bad and is going to be bad for the next couple of months as the reports are referencing the worst part of the severe recession. Job cuts seem to go hand in hand with earnings reports, housing remains dormant and even new home construction is well below “replacement” rates.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bullish Pattern for Corporate Bond LQD ETF / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
My technical work in the iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) is very constructive, and points still higher on an intermediate term basis. My near term work has pivoted to the upside after a pullback from the 102.60 high on 1/09 into yest.'s low at 97.32. Why? Mr. Market perceives that there is "value" and relative safety in the corporate bond sector compared with the excess-supply, debt-beleaguered sovereign (US) Treasury sector.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 28, 2008
U.S. Corporate Bonds Show Recovery Progress / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
Several US bonds types have mostly recovered from the steep losses of October. The differences in recovery generally correspond to the position of the bonds in the capital structure, or to credit quality.
After this difficult year, we expect more investors will consider bonds as part of their portfolio and a volatility moderator.
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Friday, November 21, 2008
Citigroup Breakup Speculation Sends Credit Default Risk Soaring / Interest-Rates / Corporate Bonds
I have been saying for over a year that Citigroup would not survive in one piece. That option is looking increasingly likely as the Citigroup Board Weigh Options .
Citigroup Inc.'s board meets today to discuss the bank's options after Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit's efforts to rebuild investor confidence failed to halt the stock's descent to a 15-year low, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Thoughts On Credit Default Swaps / Companies / Corporate Bonds
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Lehman (LEH) and Washington Mutual(WM) were soaring on Tuesday. This should not be surprising given that both stocks were hammered today. Lehman was down a whopping 45% and Washington Mutual was down 20%. Also of note, Wachovia (WB) was down 14%. For more on Lehman, please see Lehman Worth A Big Zero?
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
BAC's Threatened Default on Countrywide Bonds Triggers Law Suits / Companies / Corporate Bonds
The marriage between Bank of America (BAC) and Countrywide Financial (CFC) was supposed to stave off bankruptcy of Countrywide. It might not work out that way. Let's put together some pieces starting with the Bloomberg report BNY Mellon, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Ambac in Court News .Read full article... Read full article...