14 May 2021 TwentyFour Blog What’s Really Going On With US Jobs? At 8.1m, the number of job openings as of March 31 was the highest it has been since the data series began some 20 years ago. Read more
11 May 2021 TwentyFour Blog Classic Late-cycle Issuance…in Mid-cycle Markets can often be tricky for investors in May as bond issuers take advantage of a window of opportunity following the Q1 earnings season and ahead of the typical summer lull. This often results in heavy supply in late April and early May, hence the old trader adage of “sell in May and go away”. Read more
10 May 2021 TwentyFour Blog Is Shunning Coal a Good Policy for Capital Markets? As long as coal usage is not illegal, a private buyer of any origin will be able to purchase these assets cheaper and run them for as long as possible with no regard for ESG matters. Read more
6 May 2021 TwentyFour Blog What's Happened to the Brexit Premium? There has been a lot of focus on the performance of the high yield markets since the start of the year, particularly in Q1 when many rates markets were selling off aggressively. Read more
5 May 2021 TwentyFour Blog Beware a Second Wave of Treasury Selling Crucially while the Fed may wait to see the evidence, markets won’t, and we therefore expect a ‘second wave’ of Treasury selling to happen well before then. Read more
28 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog CoCo Re-rating Underway as Euro Banks Prove Mettle Having been at the heart of the GFC and then contributing to the Eurozone sovereign crisis, we have long argued the European banking sector would have to prove its newfound resilience to investors by successfully navigating a challenging period. Read more
26 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog Tobacco Bonds Volatile as Investors Chew On ESG Risks Tobacco company bond spreads were volatile last week on news that the Biden administration is exploring a ban on menthol cigarettes and may pursue a policy to reduce nicotine levels in all cigarettes to non-addictive or minimally addictive levels. Rumours about an increased tobacco tax also surfaced, further shaking up the industry. Read more
22 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog A Taper Without a Tantrum Had this happened a month ago, we suspect the move would be materially more pronounced, and the muted reaction indicates to us that markets are now quite comfortable with the current levels of expected growth, forecast inflation, and yields. Read more
22 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog Credit Suisse Pulls Levers to Shore Up Capital What is most interesting about the CS situation though is that to us it illustrates the ability of large banks to bolster capital when such events occur, and the range of options they have to do it. Read more
20 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog Barclays' Prison Break ESG conscious investors, ourselves included, of course, are applauding this brave decision by Barclays to put their conscience before profit, but they are not the first to do so. Read more
14 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog Volatility in Rates Eased For Now This recent stability in the rates curve suggests to us that for now the market is listening to the Fed’s rhetoric and as a result the UST market feels better balanced. Read more
12 Apr 2021 TwentyFour Blog Negative ‘Bond’ Headlines Belie the Reality of Credit’s Strong Performance With treasury yields moving aggressively higher this year, anyone reading or listening to the financial press will have become very accustomed to headlines highlighting the negative performance of “Bonds”. Read more