This Month
Fed to unwind one-off corporate bond experiment
The corporate bond program closed at the end of 2020, which means it has not been purchasing debt in recent months. But the Fed had yet to announce how and when it would wind down its holdings.
- Jeanna Smialek
Prepare for lacklustre inflation, cautions top PIMCO investor
Rising prices are likely to be temporary, and investors have a long record of over-estimating inflationary pressures.
- Richard Henderson
May
Why the Fed’s taper won’t set off a tantrum
When the Fed finally tapers, some strategists say there won’t be a tantrum of the scale seen in 2013, when bond markets were rocked, sending yields higher.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
Clock ticking on super low interest rates
The clock is ticking on COVID-19 policy settings, with a raft of central bankers starting to talk about a world of higher rates to match an upswing in economic growth.
- Sarah Turner
Half a trillion dollars at the US central bank is earning nothing
Usage of the Federal Reserve’s reverse repo facility -- helping to steer short-term interest rates -- surged to an unprecedented level.
- Benjamin Purvis and Alexandra Harris
Morgan Stanley’s Gorman sees US rate rise in early 2022
James Gorman expects the US Federal Reserve to begin to taper its bond purchases later this year.
- Taiga Uranaka
Australian investors look to Chinese debt despite tensions
Attractive yields are drawing investors to China’s bond market as low interest rates and quantitative easing weigh on developed markets’ government bonds.
- Richard Henderson
Bond markets expect inflation to run
Debt markets anticipate inflation will average in the mid-range of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range over the next 10 years, with forward-looking inflation expectation measures spiking in the last few days to a near-seven-year high.
- William McInnes
Bill Gross’ successor to quit at 44 and hit the road with the kids
At just 44, Nick Maroutsos is walking away from overseeing one of the most elite jobs in money management October to consider his second act and hit the road.
- Vivien Lou Chen
US inflation shatters interest rate complacency
The strongest monthly rise in US core consumer prices in almost 40 years shattered investors’ confidence in the prospect of ongoing low interest rates.
- Sarah Turner
- Opinion
- Investing
How an existential financial threat was tamed
A government debt blowout is the latest problem to magically vanish, but we must not lose sight of the sensible policies and robust systems that enabled us to borrow boldly.
- Jonathan Shapiro
- Opinion
- Inflation
Is the Fed fighting the last inflation war?
The move to an outcomes-based framework for monetary policy at a time of intensifying inflation pressures increases the probability of a policy mistake.
- Stephen Miller
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Markets are in for an interest rate surprise: Bill Dudley
One could imagine a peak federal funds rate of 4.5 per cent (1.5 per cent in inflation-adjusted terms), which might sound very high, but if you’re really young.
- Bill Dudley
- Opinion
- Quantitative easing
Why there’s still a ‘crowding out’ risk to the economy
Even with low rates, central bank intervention may have unintended consequences. Paradoxically, it can strangle funding available for the private sector and ultimately weaken the recovery.
- Michala Marcussen
- Opinion
- Insider trading
What Westpac’s swaps traders were doing that fateful morning
Can Westpac argue that there are different rules in the bond market when it comes to insider trading? First we must understand how the market works.
- Jonathan Shapiro
- Analysis
- Regulation
Westpac’s traders and ASIC slug it out again
ASIC’s latest stoush with Westpac will once again pit the regulator’s idea of breaking the law against the bank’s idea of standard practice in risk management.
- Updated
- Jonathan Shapiro
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Allegations shine a light on debt markets
The insider trading scandal facing Westpac couldn’t come at a worse time. But it looms as a complicated test of how the complex, hidden world of debt markets and derivatives operates.
- Updated
- James Thomson
Hungry investors dive into record $2b mortgage bond
The Australian residential mortgage-backed securities market is heating up, with a run of deals meeting hot demand from yield-starved investors.
- Richard Henderson
- Opinion
- Inflation
Inflation outlook still clouded
The outlook for inflation remains uncertain following the disappointing first quarter CPI figure however it remains crucial that investors understand the risks associated, says Ardea’s Tamar Hamlyn.
- Tamar Hamlyn
April
- Opinion
- Bonds
The property flywheel spinning the Australian recovery
The HomeBuilder package is an example of fiscal policy at its best, targeting Australia’s aspirational middle class, which has responded in kind. For corporate bond investors, this is more good news.
- Chris Dickman
