US bond funds in the Bloomberg/Barclays benchmark index lost $18 billion in value this past week as Donald Trump prevailed in the 2016 Presidential election. Total global bond market losses have been $1 trillion as 10 year US Treasury yields rose an astounding 21 basis points on Wednesday alone. The move from 1.80% to 2.13% […]

The S&P 500 Volatility index, known in the mainstream media by it’s nickname “The Fear Index”, has fallen close to year to date lows at 11.98 as of Friday’s close. It has been a one way trip lower since the Brexit aftermath as the Bank of England and other central banks rushed to calm market […]

An impressive jobs report took stocks to new all time highs on Friday as the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a gain of 255k jobs versus estimates of 180k. More importantly wage growth was a tick better than expected coming in at 2.6%. This positive report comes after a disappointing 2nd quarter GDP number and […]

It has been quite a week for financial markets in the wake of the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union. Government bond yields have plunged to record lows even as markets sharply rebounded off the post-Brexit lows. The UK 10 year gilt closed the week at 0.863%, down from 1.35% prior to the […]

The US Dollar and treasury yields moved sharply higher this week in response to successive signs from the Federal Reserve that interest rates are likely going higher this summer. The fervor started on Tuesday as two moderate Fed regional presidents said that June should be considered a live meeting. Two year treasury yields rose by […]

The S&P 500 has remained stuck between 2020 and 2060 for almost a month now. Price first crossed into this zone in mid-March just after Janet Yellen walked back her guidance on interest rate hikes. The rebound in stocks has been fueled by a recovery in commodity prices and a weaker Dollar. The Greenback has […]

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has delivered a surprise dovish tilt in her commentary for two weeks in a row. At the March 16th FOMC meeting markets expected a continued move towards hiking interest rates, but Chair Yellen caught investors off guard, saying that only two rate hikes were likely in 2016 instead of four. This […]

The US Dollar rallied sharply on Friday after Preliminary Q4 2015 GDP data came in above estimates, showing a result of 1.0% vs 0.4% estimated. This came on the heels of better than expected core durable goods orders reporting a 1.8% actual against a 0.2% projected. Unemployment claims were in line with expectations at 272k. […]

Peoples Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan followed through on his weekend comments with a sharply higher fix for the Yuan, sending it 1.35% higher on its biggest daily upswing since 2005. Zhou talked up the Yuan over the weekend in his first comments in months saying that there is “no basis for devaluation” and […]