Analysis Topic: Interest Rates and the Bond Market
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Friday, April 23, 2010
How the Banks Print Their Money / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Gosh! Banks print money, bleeding tax-payers and savers for ink...
RESCUING THE BANKS was supposed to be about saving the savers.
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Friday, April 23, 2010
U.S. Government Deficit Spending Debt, We’re All Comrades Now / Interest-Rates / US Debt
David Galland, Managing Editor, The Casey Report writes : To ascertain what move the government is most likely to take next, we must first assess the probabilities.
In order to do that, we start by restating the central question, “How does the U.S. government spend, spend, spend (a minimum of $10 trillion in red ink over the next decade) and yet maintain today’s historically low interest rates?”
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Are Interest Rate Derivatives a Ticking Time Bomb? / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2010
Derivatives are the world's largest market, dwarfing the size of the bond market and world's real economy.
The derivatives market is currently at around $600 trillion or so (in gross notional value).
In contrast, the size of the worldwide bond market (total debt outstanding) as of 2009 was an estimated $82.2 trillion.
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Greek Bond Market Crash, Greece Budget Deficit Worse Than Feared / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
With Thursday's admission that Greece's budget gap is worse than expected, CDS rates on Greek debt rose to new highs, and Greek bond crashed.
Charts follow a discussion of articles in the news.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
U.S. Treasury Bonds Nowhere To Go But Down / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
"It is better to do thine own duty, however lacking in merit, than to do that of another, even though efficiently. It is better to die doing one's own duty, for to do the duty of another is fraught with danger." ~ Bhagavad Gita, BC 400-, Sanskrit Poem Incorporated Into the Mahabharata
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Thursday, April 22, 2010
This is Important.. U.S. Treasury Bonds Reach Critical Level / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
If is wasn't so important, I wouldn't mention it a second time. But it is very important, and could be a "game changer" if we break above this long term resistance in the next few weeks ... so, please keep an eye on it.
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Monday, April 19, 2010
Global Financial Maelstrom Continues, Government Policies of Insolvency / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
The global financial maelstrom continues to unfold as public serpents, central banks and crony capitalists continue to pour gas on the fires. It is set to continue. The collapse of FIAT paper wealth storage is unfolding with breathtaking speed. Asset bubbles continue to emerge in the emerging world and collapse in the developed world as capital FLEES. Today’s missive covers the deep insolvencies in the developed world and the definitions of solvency of Austrian Economics. The inflationary depression still lies in our futures.
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Monday, April 19, 2010
Global Bond Market Crash to Drive Gold / Interest-Rates / International Bond Market
The gold market has been heating up and conditions are moving into an alignment which is ideal for a gold price rally this year. Fear and uncertainty will drive the price northwards even if the current CTFC saga does not eventuate in immediate disciplinary action or regulatory change.
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Monday, April 19, 2010
14 Risks of Holding U.S. Government Treasury Bonds / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
When AT&T, California, New York City or virtually any other borrower wants your money and offers its bonds for sale, it’s required to give you a prospectus that properly discloses all the relevant risks.
It has a legal obligation to tell you about any material weakness, hidden liabilities or contingencies that could diminish your chances of getting paid in full.
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Saturday, April 17, 2010
Trying to Beat the Rate of Inflation With Your Savings? / Interest-Rates / Inflation
What the New York Times can't even see in today's record-low bank interest rates...
LESTER BANGS getting loaded on speed, brandy and casual violence...throwing empty bottles down onto the street and assaulting a good friend's long-time partner...before reviewing Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music...
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Friday, April 16, 2010
The Bear Potential of UK Government Bonds Gilts / Interest-Rates / UK Debt
We have been and remain strong bears of the US TNote. But the immediate election notwithstanding, the UK Gilts too appear to be setting themselves up nicely for the bears…
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Debt Crisis Worries Shift To Portugal; Greece Borrowing Rates Back Near Highs / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
Concern over Portugal has now hit the front page as noted by the New York Times in Debt Worries Shift to Portugal, Spurred by Rising Bond Rates
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
Higher Rates are Foreboding Inflation / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
I know we were all told that it was not supposed to happen, but interest rates are rising on both U.S. government debt and mortgages. Fortunately for investors, market forces are not subjugated by media’s groupthink. Therefore, I was able to predict and profit from this nascent move up in rates, despite being vilified by those who told me that rates had already priced in the removal of government support.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fed Moves $421.8 Billion Without Warning, Is the Fed Bailing out Greece? / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2010
The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, which documents the inner workings and balance sheets at the nation's central bank, just released new research and data suggesting that the Federal Reserve lent $421.8 billion – with no one knowing exactly where it went.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Have We Entered A Treasury Bond Bear Market? / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Sharon A. Daniels writes: Bond investors were poised to hit the panic button last week … nervously watching as yields on 10-Year U.S. Treasury bonds briefly pierced the 4 percent level for the first time in well over a year.
Their concerns are understandable. After all, the threat of rising rates has been hanging over fixed-income markets ever since the Fed began printing money at hyper-speed during the financial crisis. And the fears haven’t subsided.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
U.S. Treasury Bonds Prospectus, Would You Invest? / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
We talk a lot about the economy in abstract terms.
On the other hand, many of us are well-versed at going over a prospectus and Jim Grant of the Interest Rate Observer has put one together for the United States of America as it seeks to raise $16Bn for 30-year Treasury Notes. According to the prospectus: "The Bonds will mature on April 15, 2040. Interest on the bonds is payable semiannually on April 15 and October 15, beginning October 15, 2010. Before giving effect to the offering of the Bonds and the securities to be issued concurrently,the United States had approximately $12,500,000,000,000 of indebtedness subject to the statutory debt limitation."
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Derivatives, the One Market the Fed Hopes You Won’t Find Out About / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2010
As we celebrate year three of the Great Financial Crisis with the first official bailout of an entire country (Greece), I’m still astounded and the complete and utter lack of coverage the underlying cause of this Crisis has received.
We’ve had tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of articles and research reports have been written about the Crisis, and yet I would wager less than 1% of them actually bother talking about what caused it, let alone how the various efforts to stop it have in fact FAILED to address the key issues.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Watching U.S. Treasury Bonds TBT and TLT / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
It's a new month, therefore, it must be time to switch my position on Treasury bonds.
Before getting to the technicals on Treasury bonds, let me state why I am interested in and why I write so much about Treasury bonds. In one word, it is diversification. After all, they move slowly (most of the time), and they don't have the pizazz of some hot stock. Treasury bonds are one asset that remains negatively correlated to the equity market. Other traditional portfolio diversifiers, like commodities, emerging market ETF's and REIT's, have become highly correlated to US equities, and they just aren't doing the job they used to of smoothing out a portfolio's returns.
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Monday, April 12, 2010
Surging U.S. Interest Rates Ahead / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Brace yourself for one of the greatest interest-rate surges in decades — beginning first in the long-term Treasury markets … later spreading to shorter term Treasuries … and ultimately enveloping nearly every loan, debt, credit, and money market instrument on the planet.
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Sunday, April 11, 2010
Greece Offered $61 Billion in Standby Loans; Someone in the "Know" Already Profited / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis Bailouts
Notwithstanding the fact that markets have rallied on
- A rumor of a potential bailout for Greece a few months ago
- Confirmation a bailout was being discussed
- A framework of the bailout version #1
- A framework of the bailout version #2