Displaying items by tag: rates

(Beijing)

China is beginning its retaliation against the US’ increasing intense trade policy. The country is unloading its holdings of US Treasuries at the fastest pace in two years alongside the big rupture with Washington over trade. Its US Treasury bond holdings are one of China’s arsenal of weapons to retaliate against the US’ tariff hikes. According to Deutsche Bank’s chief economist, “The sheer size of [China’s] reserves and that this is even becoming a conversation means the market should take it seriously”. The country owns $1.12 tn worth of Treasuries.

FINSUM: This is quite a risk for the US as someone would have to absorb all those sold assets, and if they flooded the market, it would cause major volatility and sharp yield rises.

(Washington)

Between the escalating trade war and weakening data, the economic outlook is darkening. Accordingly, the market is increasingly betting that the Fed will cut rates. The market is now pricing a 50%+ chance of a 25 bp rate cut by the end of the year. Additionally, the yield curve, which is once again inverted, is signaling future rate cuts.

FINSUM: If Trump keeps escalating the trade war with China, he will force the Fed to do exactly what he hopes—cut rates! Really though, the odds of a rate cut are rising as the trade war looks like an ever bigger headwind to growth.

(New York)

Markets are getting more volatile by the day. Last week was a rough one and yesterday was total carnage. Investors might be thinking about allocating shares into some safer sectors. With that in mind, here are 7 safe dividend payers to take shelter in: JP Morgan (2.8% yield), Sempra Energy (3.1%), NextEra Energy (2.6%), Air Products & Chemicals (2.3%), Honeywell International (1.9%), McCormick (1.5%), Microsoft (1.5%).

FINSUM: One of the big things to remember here is that with the Fed on hold, the big headwind against dividend stocks is pretty much removed.

(New York)

Bond ETFs ae set to break a landmark record this year—$1 tn in AUM. The number is a big deal for bond ETFs, which got off to a slower start than their equity counterparts. In recent years, though, bond ETFs have seen huge inflows as they allow investors a more liquid option for both strategic and longer-term allocations. The market is also seeing a good deal of innovation, with more nuanced approaches spreading much like they have in equities.

FINSUM: Overall this is excellent news for investors. More AUM means more liquidity, more options, and lower costs. There are still some fears about a liquidity mismatch between the ETF and the underlying blowing up during a crisis, but those have never materialized.

(New York)

One of the most famous names in bonds, Jeffrey Gundlach, has just put out a bold statement. Gundlach thinks there is forthcoming trouble in markets and he thinks it is the Fed’s fault. Specifically, Gundlach thinks the bond market is set for a lot of volatility. “interest rates cannot maintain the low volatility they have maintained over the last eight years”. To be clear, Gundlach is not calling for a recession, but says “But I am starting to think it is much less of a lock that there won’t be a recession before the next recession”.

FINSUM: There are two conflicting ideologies here. The Fed thinks volatility is largely an extension of the economy and policy, both of which it feels it can control to an extent. Gundlach and many other investors think there are underlying forces in the economy and markets that can only be pacified for so long. We think they are both right to an extent.