Analysis Topic: Interest Rates and the Bond Market
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, October 05, 2018
Chinese Credit Collapse Is Imminent / Interest-Rates / China Debt Crisis
By: John_Mauldin
Many good things are happening in China.Businesses are prospering. Living standards rise. The country’s interior is still quite poor but life is improving.
This progress is welcome news. The problem is how China is financing it. The answer is, “with a lot of debt.”
You often hear about China’s government and corporate debt, but less about households.
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Thursday, October 04, 2018
Eurozone Debt Crisis - Italy and the Euro Unplugged / Interest-Rates / Italy
By: Axel_Merk
Why is it that Italy causes such a stir in financial markets when proposing a budget? Is it politics or is the stability of the financial system at stake? In our assessment, the best way to avert a crisis is to allow market forces to play out. Let me explain.
We all “know” Italy is in trouble. Well, before we jump to conclusions, let’s look at a few charts. Above is the Italian unemployment rate; it’s come off a high level, but still elevated. When policy makers call for structural reform, it is a codeword for increasing flexibility in the labor market, i.e. making firing easier. If firing workers is difficult, companies won’t hire workers. It’s also in this context that providing a so-called basic income is criticized by some as providing a disincentive to join the labor force (aside from cementing higher deficits for years to come). Basic income means you get paid, whether you work or not. In practice, the devil is in the details, as European workers have long enjoyed unemployment benefits; streamlining such benefits might actually save the government money. That said, Germany’s low unemployment, to a significant extent, may be due to the fact that welfare benefits were curtailed in 2002 (with a social democrat as chancellor), providing an incentive for workers to join the workforce.
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Thursday, October 04, 2018
US Bond Yields Positioned for Upside Acceleration / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: Mike_Paulenoff
Ten-year Yield has climbed to a new post-July 2016 (1.32%) high at 3.17%, the highest yield since July 2011, over 7 years ago!
From a technical perspective, today's surge above May-Oct 2018 resistance at 3.11% is a reaction to very strong recent data showing strong ADP Payrolls for September (230,000 vs. 185,000 expected), and impressive ISM Non-manufacturing data across the Headline data (61.6 vs. 58 expected), as well as the sub-surveys in Business Activity, Prices, Orders and Employment for September.
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Tuesday, October 02, 2018
Global Central Banks Enter the Danger Zone / Interest-Rates / Central Banks
By: Michael_Pento
Investors are experiencing huge moves in commodities, currencies, equities and in sovereign debt across the globe. And now the fall has arrived. Expect the volatility currently witnessed in markets to only surge.
This is because global central banks have overwhelmingly turned hawkish in a vain attempt to gradually let the air out of the massive bubbles they have spent the last decade recreating. Unfortunately, that is not the nature of asset bubbles—they don’t end with a whimper--and they are about to burst in violent fashion.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Whose Trillion is it Anyway? US Federal Government Shocker! / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Andy_Sutton
The headline reads ‘Trump adds a trillion dollars to the national debt in 14 months’. Before you stop reading, give us a minute; this isn’t an article about Trump or politics for that matter. It’s about a process, a series of policies, and an approach that has been in place for decades now, irrespective of political parties. What we are going to give you are facts, not opinions. Those of you who read regularly should know us well enough to understand that we have no use for the ‘lesser of two evils / left-right paradigm’ approach to our Republic. Or what is left of it to be accurate.
Sunday, September 02, 2018
How Much does the UK Really Owe in Debt? / Interest-Rates / UK Debt
By: Dylan_Moran
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Saturday, September 01, 2018
US Interest Rates - A Pound of Cure / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
By: Peter_Schiff
This week, as investors and economists fixate on record highs set by major stock market indices, they have ignored much more significant developments that emerged from the Federal Reserve's annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a speech that somehow was almost universally interpreted as a reiteration of his commitment to continue to raise rates throughout the next few years. "Steady as she goes" was the takeaway from just about any news outlet. But the Chairman's actual message was essentially the opposite of what the media reported. From my perspective, it provided evidence that President Trump has succeeded in getting Powell's mind right on the need for the Fed to continue to stimulate the economy, no matter how much evidence emerges that it is already over-stimulated.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Recommendation for Bond Investors: Don’t Fight Financial Repression / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: F_F_Wiley
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released two supplemental reports this month—the first reveals budget scenarios it “did not have enough time” to include in June’s 2018 Long-Term Budget Outlook, and the second shows what needs to happen for policy makers to reach certain government debt targets.
I plan to post a few charts summarizing the new reports, but because I’m sounding off on bonds for now (or in a moment) and don’t need all the detail to support my argument, I’ll share only a short summary of the first report.
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Sunday, August 26, 2018
How The Credit Market Is Doing in 2018 / Interest-Rates / Financial Markets 2018
By: Dylan_Moran
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
US Treasury Bonds $TNX Curveball Update / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: Rambus_Chartology
Over the last several months or so I’ve been writing about the bond market throwing us a possible curveball. Instead of continuing rising interest rate we may see falling rates. Today the $TNX, 10 year treasury yield finally broke below the neckline we’ve been following that started to developing back in January of this year. I’ve labeled the H&S top as an unbalanced H&S top as the price action formed a second right shoulder that was a small H&S top. A backtest to the neckline would now come into play around the 28.65 area.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Turkey Debt Crisis is Not Contained / Interest-Rates / Turkey
By: Michael_Pento
During my last appearance on CNBC, before I was banned several years ago, I warned that the removal of massive and unprecedented monetary stimuli from global central banks would have to be done in a coordinated fashion. Otherwise, there would be the very real risk of currency and debt crises around the world. However, coordination among central banks is not what is happening. The Fed is miles ahead in its reversal of monetary stimulus, as it has already raised rates seven times; with two more 25bps rate hikes in the pipeline scheduled for later this year. It has also avowed to sell off two trillion dollars’ worth of debt off its balance sheet--while the rest of the world’s central banks are far behind in this monetary tightening course. This has led to a significant increase in the value of the US dollar.
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Wednesday, August 15, 2018
A Bullish Bond Argument That Hides in Plain Sight / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
By: F_F_Wiley
It’s been awhile since I advised anyone to load up on long Treasuries. The bearish bond narrative has been too strong for that, thanks largely to fiscal policy but also to near-4% unemployment rates, quantitative tightening and—maybe most threatening of all—tit-for-tat tariffs.
In fact, I challenge anyone to think of a time during the past two decades when bond bears (read: most mainstream commentators) have possessed a more compelling Powerpoint pack.
But maybe the powerful bear story has become overplayed, maybe it was fully or almost fully priced in by mid-May, when the 10-year Treasury yield reached a six-year high of 3.11%. If so, it might be a good time to revisit the argument that the secular bull is still intact, a time for contrarians to speak up.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2018
The Federal Reserve: Secretly Sticking It to Americans for Over 100 Years / Interest-Rates / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: MoneyMetals
In the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis, the private Federal Reserve bank cartel was front and center as a target for public outrage.
Former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul’s "End the Fed" message suddenly resonated. Americans hated Fed officials bailing out the banksters – richly rewarding them for crooked and irresponsible behavior which helped create the crisis.
But years have passed. Americans have been enjoying the expansion stage of the next great bubble. The central planners at the Fed and their colleagues at the nation’s largest banks have been busy stimulating the real estate, equity, and bond markets.
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Monday, August 13, 2018
72% of the Base Interest Rate Rise Already Factored into Mortgage Fixed Rates / Interest-Rates / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data, not yet published, highlights that two-year fixed rates were already on the rise before the Bank of England’s announcement earlier this month, with the average two-year fixed rate having risen by 0.18% since January 2018.
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Saturday, August 11, 2018
Greek Debt Tragedy is Far From Over / Interest-Rates / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Rodney_Johnson
Last week, Greece received $17 billion from its creditors, representing the final installment of the country’s third bailout since 2010.This is the last one.
Really. Stop laughing.
There’s no doubt the Southern Mediterranean country has endured a lot of pain over the last eight years.
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Monday, August 06, 2018
Technical Analysis and Interest Rates Unchanged – Here We Go / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
By: Chris_Vermeulen
The US Federal Reserve is one of the only central banks to attempt to raise rates consistently over the past few years, has possibly learned a very valuable lesson – no good comes from raising rates to the point of causing another market collapse. The news that the US Fed will leave interest rates where they are, temporarily, is good news for a number of reasons.
First, this allows the markets to shake out weaker players and weaker components of the corporate world. Where corporate debt levels are concerned, interest rates are tied to debt repayment liabilities and refinancing costs. Firms that are unable to manage at current interest rates certainly would not be happy about rising rates. This allows these corporations to either struggle to resolve their debt issues or collapse under the weight of their own debt. This will also play out in the foreign markets as well.
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Saturday, August 04, 2018
Breaking Down the US Budget Deficit / Interest-Rates / Government Spending
By: Rodney_Johnson
Second-quarter U.S. GDP jumped by an annualized 4.1%, putting a spring in the step of the Trump administration and the congressional leadership.And why not?
Those two groups are responsible for turbo-charging the U.S. economy through tax reform, which cut taxes by more than $1 trillion, putting a ton of cash in the hands of corporations and consumers.
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Thursday, August 02, 2018
Bank of England Base Rate Increases to 0.75% / Interest-Rates / UK Interest Rates
By: MoneyFacts
The Bank of England’s decision to increase interest rates from 0.50% to 0.75% marks the first time the base rate has risen above 0.50% in almost 10 years. But what does this latest increase mean to the average person on the street?
Charlotte Nelson, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, said:
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Wednesday, August 01, 2018
Trump Declares War on the Fed / Interest-Rates / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: Michael_Pento
It appears when it comes to fighting the old Washington establishment---comprised of the deep state and the Federal Reserve--Mr. Trump is getting sucked into the vortex of the D.C. swamp rather than draining it. The hope was for our “Disrupter in Chief” to be more concerned about our children’s future than his own; and for his focus to span beyond the next election cycle. Instead of allowing consumers to finally receive a real return on their savings; and to let asset bubbles seek a level that can be supported by the free market, Trump has chosen to breach a boundary that has been essential to providing hope for the future solvency of our nation.
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Thursday, July 19, 2018
The Fonzie–Ponzi Theory of Government Debt: An Update / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis 2018
By: F_F_Wiley
This post is excerpted from my book Economics for Independent Thinkers, although with some updating. It seems relevant after the CBO’s latest long-term budget outlook, which in its optimistic “baseline scenario” called for America’s net federal debt to double over the next 30 years, rising from 76% of GDP in 2017 to 152% in 2048.
Before reaching this chapter or even picking up this book, I imagine many of you were already loosely divided into the two major camps of the public debt debate. The first camp is already concerned and doesn’t need my research to form an opinion. These people stress the math involved in borrowing—the idea that you get do extra stuff today, but you have to somehow pay for it in the future. Meanwhile, those in the other camp ask, “So what?” They might argue that America will make good on its debt because “it always does.” Or they’ll point confidently to America’s unique advantages as a military superpower, paragon of political stability, and steward of the world’s predominant reserve currency. Confronted with the lessons of history, they’ll say, “This time is different.”
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