Another day, another day of volatility in UST trading with the 10s trading up 9 bps in yield from Friday’s close. It is, so far, an almost exact carbon copy of the start to last week, including the 13:30 selloff. Repetition is indicative of systemic factor(s) rather than some kind of random variation (or a minor factor indistinguishable from a [...]
Repo rates ticked up again today as both agency and MBS GC rates remain over 20 bps. Volume has picked up also more recently, which may suggest more benign conditions overall the past almost two months are running their full course. Ever since May 1, volume in all three classes has been significantly greater than their drawn out averages, with [...]
It was another pretty volatile session for UST trading, including the 13:30 selloff showing up right on schedule. The open was bid rather heavily, likely due to the nasty retail sales figures that increase the probability of something more than a temporary economic slump, but selling appeared almost from the open. There was heavy buying again around 13:00 and the [...]
As the “dollar” has taken back some of its pressure we are seeing at least some of the effects of that in various credit and funding markets. There can be no doubt now that the March 18, 2015, FOMC decision to at least position more “dovish” removed a great deal of “dollar” stress from the global network. To that end, [...]
Yesterday brought on an exposition on the death of currency, but it was only one dimension in that process. Owing to the orientation of monetary policy, especially under QE conditions, most attention is focused outward from short to long. The irreconcilably truth, as I put it, is that destroying time value amounts to depressing financial participation. Today we are very [...]
I had hoped that something would have happened by now and that April 15 would follow more closely the October 15 and January 15 events, if only for the sake of experimentation. We don’t really need any additional illiquidity and certainly nothing as globally severe as those, but with function the way it is and everything so stretched and imbalanced [...]
For the fourth consecutive trading session, repo rates remain in an elevated state though there isn’t any obvious reason they are doing so. GC rates in all three classes were essentially unchanged from Monday, which leaves them unfamiliar with repo mechanics that existed prior to March 25. There was a sharp surge up to just shy of 25 bps (MBS) [...]
The June 2003 FOMC meeting is one of those events that has only taken on increased relevance and significance with time. That gathering marked a major shift in monetary policy as it was, particularly with relation to the fomented housing bubble, as the FOMC was debating the zero lower bound. The discussion centered around the proposed monetary alignment that would [...]
Usually references to April 15 are reserved for income taxes, but in this case that preference may be superseded. Recognizing the illiquidity pattern of the “rising dollar” means being vigilant toward the next expected instance. If October 15 was an “event” followed by January 15 in succession, then it is reasonable to at least anticipate conditions for April 15. To [...]
The issue of bank hoarding has become nearly mainstream as the size of the move into UST is now too large to ignore. It wasn’t so much an issue last year, apparently, as there was less to suggest taking very pessimistic portfolio allocations was anything other than an anomaly of regulation. This year the idea of prudence as opposed to [...]
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