Back in September, the IMF issued a generic warning about EM corporate debt. The organization had estimated that total borrowing had exploded, from about $4 trillion in 2004 to $18 trillion in 2014; and perhaps even more than that. Concerns over such bloat typically focus offshore, and not without good reason. However, that understates the true degree of risk since [...]
Unilever is a rather typical multinational conglomerate trying to weather this “recovery” as best as it can. It is, of course, quite jarring to realize that any business so positioned might have to “weather” any recovery, but that is the state that they are presented with. Reporting Q1 results last week, the company improved slightly to almost 5% in underlying [...]
The corporate junk bubble had gotten so beaten up and so dire that removal of the liquidation pressure was bound to attract bargain hunters and momentum chasers. Despite all that has happened, the lust for huge potential gains remains constant. Where that might have been more expressed upon the short side last year, with the end of the last liquidation [...]
The focus on China and the Chinese economy is not just related to its size but more so the fact that it is the pivot point for the whole global system. In pure economic terms, as “end demand” from the developed world economies slows, the Chinese economy either absorbs that reduction (through its own internal “stimulus”) or passes it on [...]
You don't often see a move like this in a bond market. This the long term, high grade corporate bond ETF from SPDR, up 6.6% in the last month. I chose this chart because of what it shows about modern markets, which don't allow for much introspection on the part of investors. We're all traders now and when the momentum [...]
Bond markets have made some dramatic moves over the last few weeks and I thought it an opportune time to review. Credit spreads have narrowed considerably over the last few weeks as risk takers have re-entered the markets. High yield, IG corporates and emerging market bonds have all enjoyed significant rallies. It is our judgement though that - for now [...]
The risk budgets this month are again unchanged. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds remains at 40/60 versus the benchmark of 60/40. The changes in our indicators since last month's update have not been sufficient to warrant a change. Credit spreads did narrow significantly over the last month but the widening trend is still [...]
To an economist, the economy can bear no recession. In times of heavy central bank activity, an economy can never be in recession. Those appear to be the only dynamic factors that drive economic interpretation in the mainstream. And they become circular in the trap of just these kinds of circumstances – the economy looks like it might fall into [...]
Economics in the orthodox version has it entirely backwards. If that wasn’t apparent in the last cycle, it is becoming far more so once again. This descent into math is not limited to econometrics, as it says a lot about the state of popular perception more generally. Computer models and statistics are given the moniker of “science” which is wielded [...]
The fallout in liquidity and funding markets (subscription required) has been mostly suggested at the junk bond bubble. Prices have fallen, and many precipitously, while yields have risen. But those are not the only negative factors being exhibited. If the issuance figures are anywhere close to correct, then increasingly junk obligors are being totally shut out at any price. Worse [...]
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