Tag Archives: corporate bonds
Municipal Bonds Are Being Left Behind
Corporate bonds have garnered a lot of attention lately, as the Federal Reserve continues to stabilize markets by establishing multiple facilities that support both the primary and secondary corporate bond markets. As a result, credit spreads have tightened significantly from where they were in March. Since March 23, 2020, the option-adjusted spread on the S&P…
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Delivering Low Volatility Exposure to High Yield Bonds
The last few weeks have been challenging for business the world over. People working from home and aggressive social distancing have led to business contraction and the expectation of rising default. On March 19, 2020, an S&P report expected that the U.S. trailing 12-month speculative-grade corporate default rate would rise to 10% within the next…
- Categories Factors, Fixed Income, Strategy
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Distressed in Distressing Times
Jeff Gundlach has been recently quoted as asking, “the Fed can buy up corporate bond ETFs and thereby prop up prices of corporate bonds, but what happens when there are defaults and the artificial Fed price is replaced by the recovery value?” We have already seen how the S&P U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Corporate Bond…
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Federal Reserve Becomes Buyer of Last Resort
In a previous blog, we discussed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s initial responses to the current market volatility and resultant dislocations. In short, dropping rates to 0% and adding over USD 1 trillion to the funding markets did little to abate the severity of the situation. In an effort to prevent a liquidity crisis from turning…
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U.S. Corporate Debt Market under Pressure
Since mid-February, the market has turned sharply down in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500® has fallen about 32% from its peak this year. Equity volatility shot up, as VIX® went from historical lows to the 70-80 range, which was last seen in November 2008. The 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond yield reached 0.32%…
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As U.S. Investment-Grade Corporate Bonds Push Toward Yields of 4%, Will Eurozone Corporate Bonds Ever Make it to Even 1%?
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced last Thursday, April 26, 2018, that it would maintain its monetary policy and bond-buying program, as growth in the eurozone slowed in the first quarter. The ECB corporate bond purchases have pushed yields in the region to their lowest since the financial crisis. Inflation targets in the region are…
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As Volatility Returns to Equities, Corporate Bond Spreads Tighten Near Record Lows
Broad-based equity markets have been on a rollercoaster ride since Jan. 30, 2018, as market participants appear to be reassessing the impact of inflation and potential consequences from the recent tax reform. While volatility appears to be back, high-grade corporate bond spreads have tightened to levels not seen since 2007. Compared with the last episode…
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S&P 500 Companies Issued USD 775 Billion of Bonds in 2017
2017 was the sixth consecutive year of record U.S. corporate bond issuances, as companies continued to take advantage of the accommodative environment created by low interest rates and strong investor demand. As measured by the S&P 500® Bond Index, 325 companies came to market for a total of over USD 775 billion in 2017. Approximately…
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Rieger Report: Munis Show Their Power in Low Rate Environment
The 2017 low interest rate environment has created a wonderful example of the power of tax-exempt bonds. On a nominal return basis, investment grade corporate bonds tracked in the S&P 500 Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index have outperformed tax-exempt bonds tracked in the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index. By considering the tax implications, using…
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U.S. Corporate Debt Issuance on Pace for Record Year
U.S. corporations continue to take advantage of the accommodative conditions created by a protracted period of low interest rates and strong market participant demand. As of Oct. 1, 2017, U.S. investment-grade corporate debt issuance surpassed USD 1 trillion—three weeks ahead of 2016’s pace. Additionally, the amount of speculative-grade corporate debt issued through the first three…
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