Being September 15 and thus entering the final two weeks of the quarter, it seems appropriate to review all the liquidity bottlenecks (or at least the symptoms of them). Since GC repo rates found themselves retracing the end of Q1 at the end of Q2, it feels appropriate to start there. As you might expect, the repo rates thus far [...]
The new week opens much the same as last week traded, with narrow ranges abounding in risky asset prices. From leveraged loans to junk debt, funding markets continue to run the correlations. From this “dollar” view, the lack of “buying” interest in the corporate bubble, bargain value or not, may more properly be understood as lack of “funding” interest. On [...]
Setting aside wholesale financial reasons and implications, the crash now in the Brazilian real is not good for anyone. It is, obviously, a disaster for Brazilians but the utter implosion heading toward disintegration in the world’s seventh largest economy (and what once was third in terms of marginal expansion) is both a warning and reflection. The economy there isn’t going [...]
I think broad trading today actually confirms yesterday’s hypothesis of the marked appearance of fear. In reversing exactly (or nearly so) almost everything from yesterday, across the board, it seems as if the juxtaposition settles that interpretation. I noted that it wasn’t just gold bid in contrast to the selling and “dollar” frenzy, the Swiss franc had joined on the [...]
We have been talking about a global “dollar” run for the better part of two weeks, and at least a major “dollar” disruption looming going back three months. To say that any of the latest chaos is “unexpected” is intentionally obtuse, but it has already happened. As it is, I think we can expect FRBNY and the Treasury to issue [...]
Three-month LIBOR has just this month risen by a little more than 3 bps. That sounds like nothing more than a rounding error, beyond trivial, but considering it had only risen 3 bps prior going back to March the comparison of acceleration is what clearly matters. Up until August, the upward variability in LIBOR had been limited toward the longer [...]
Just a couple of noteworthy prices/developments around the close: 1. Repo rates have come back down, with the GC rates yesterday below IOER for the first time in 16 trading sessions (MBS). Volume in MBS has been quite light recently, with UST volume making up the difference. I can’t see any particular reason for such a marginal shift except the [...]
On this side of “dollar” funding, risk continues to drain, steadily, but rather methodical about it. While China is taking most of the attention, deservedly, credit markets are not enthused about any of what has taken place. Again, I think that is more the yuan’s relation to the “dollar” than of anything else interpreted for or about the PBOC. It [...]
Everything in dollar-denomination yesterday was lifted by the usual M&A debasement and quite sour data from China. The latter was taken as if there would be renewed “stimulus” in the near term. The “dollar” took a break from its recent destructive nature, as commodities rebounded as did currency proxies and even gold. Stocks in the US and elsewhere jumped and [...]
The “dollar” has ended the month much the way it started. Despite headlines suggesting the dollar is “down” today, it is very much proving to be disruptive across every proxy. Gold was down to $1,080 at the AM fix before rebounding. Commodities were sold broadly, with copper back near $2.359, down almost $0.02 at some parts of the futures curve; [...]
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