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Friday, May 10, 5:57 AM Don't panic, Moody's says, there's "no strong evidence that recent [corporate debt] issuance levels presage a damaging correction." The notion that a bubble is building in the corporate bond market isn't reflected in credit spreads which, for both investment grade (LQD) and high yield (HYG, JNK), are closer to long-run averages than they are to alarmingly tight. Furthermore, the ratings agency says a surge in issuance reflects the "disintermediation of the banking sector" and notes that the proportion of total corporate liabilities comprised of debt securities hasn't significantly increased over the past two years." We can all rest easy now. (previous) 2 Comments
Wednesday, May 8, 11:20 AM Coupons continue to shrink on fixed-rate U.S. corporate bonds reports Fitch, with the average falling to 5.6% in March, down from 5.7% at year end, and 6.1% a year ago. Investment-grade paper (LQD) came in at 3%, speculative (HYG, JNK) at 6.3%. New issuance in Q1 was $259.5B, putting 2013 on pace with 2012's record activity. Rating activity remains subdued, with downgrades affecting just 1% of issuance, upgrades 1.8%. Comment!
Friday, April 12, 12:28 PM Fixed-income may not be being given away as it was in 2010, but there's still value, says Jeff Gundlach, scoffing at talk of a bond bubble. "Raise your hand" if you own Treasurys for yourself or a client, he asked a room full of advisors (none went up). Bonds are not "over-owned" in the U.S., he says, showing cash and fixed income make up a higher percentage of household financial assets in other countries. 5 Comments [U.S. Economy]
Wednesday, February 27, 11:10 AM Leading off his latest outlook with Alan Greenspan's "irrational exuberance" line, Bill Gross (BOND) ponders its application to credit markets (LQD, HYG, JNK) today. Conclusion: Not yet. Labeling credit irrationality a 6 on a scale of 1-10, Gross suggests not selling, but instead lowering expectations.
1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
Wednesday, February 13, 9:15 AM Corporate debt has duration risk as well, and worries over higher rates have BlackRock planning two actively-managed ETFs focused on short-term paper. Average duration of IG debt stands at a near-record 6.8 years, according to BAML. The long-end has been the place to be, but shorter-duration is "gaining traction." LQD -1.4% YTD. Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, February 5, 2:49 PM Money for nothing. IBM plans a sale of $2B in floating-rate debt, with the 2-year paper maybe priced at Libor minus 2 basis points. The 5-year notes look to yield 47 bps more than 5-year Treasurys. Coca-Cola and P&G both issued debt paying less than the benchmark rate last year. 1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
Thursday, January 31, 4:37 PM Are funds flowing out of junk bonds? The noticeable turn lower in HYG and JNK in the past couple of sessions has been accompanied by surging volume, notes John Spence. Both of the ETFs have returned to about flat YTD. The IG corporate bond ETF (LQD) is now red. Dan Fuss describes today's high yield values as "ridiculous." Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Friday, January 18, 2:35 PM Investment-grade bonds continue to get a underweight allocation at Barclays, which says the spread to Treasurys isn't enough to compensate for the lack of liquidity, particularly so in higher-quality credits. The bank remains overweight high-yield - which also suffers from lower liquidity, but with a more adequate spread to make up for it. Chart of TLT vs. LQD vs. HYG YTD. Comment! [U.S. Economy, Financials]
Tuesday, January 8, 5:09 PM Gundlach: By at least one measure - comparing the Merrill Corporate Index to the Treasury Index - corporate paper is as overvalued as it's ever been in the history of the data (going back to 1985). Another relatively overvalued fixed-income class is emerging market debt (EMB). "I would not be putting any new money into that." 2 Comments [U.S. Economy]
Friday, January 4, 12:51 PM Investors want yield and treasurers/underwriters are happy to give it to them. A full 41% of investment grade corporate bond issuance was BBB (the lowest IG rating) in 2012, the highest proportion going back to at least 1998. Just 19% of issuance rated AA or AAA - only 1998's 17% was lower in the last 15 years. 4 Comments [Financials]
Friday, December 7, 2012, 12:57 PM More from Hudachek's Overlooked ETFs: Investment-grade and high-yield debt investors may have interest in Guggenheim's Suite of products offering a range of maturities - from very short-term all the way out to 2020. The shortest term IG fund is BSCC, junk is BSJC. To go longer maturity, just swap the last "C'' in the fund symbol for "D," and so on, all the way out to "K." Comment! [Quick Ideas]
Friday, December 7, 2012, 7:39 AM Duration risk in the investment grade bond market (LQD) is leading fund managers to reduce exposure. The average yield on IG bonds has fallen to 2.66% and bond math says it takes very little backup in yields from this point to wipe out a year (or years) of coupon payments. Corporate bonds often yield less than the equity of the same company - a rare situation, says Matt Eagan. "We think you have a better chance of preserving principal on the equity side." This from a bond man! 4 Comments [U.S. Economy, Financials]
Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 10:06 AM If a bond issued at par goes to 116, that's not a bubble, says original (bond) gangster Dan Fuss. "If it goes to 250, that's a bubble, and that doesn't tend to happen with bonds." The strong performance of fixed income reflects a strong market, he says, but one with room yet to grow. 3 Comments [U.S. Economy, Financials]
Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 3:26 PM With "liability driven investment" strategies - in which pensions attempt to match asset and liability duration - tilting managers away from stocks and to fixed income, corporate pension funds are expected to continue to be major buyers of corporate debt issuance. Robert Hunkeler with International Paper isn't playing, noting buying long-dated debt now just locks in yields too low to fund his plan. Comment! [Financials]
Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 3:17 AM Amazon (AMZN) raised $3B in its bond offering, which comprised notes maturing in three, five and 10-years. The company will use the money to help it buy its Seattle headquarters in a $1.16B deal, as well as for general corporate purposes. Moody's rated the debt - the first that Amazon issued since 1999 - at Baa1, although S&P rated it four levels higher at AA-. Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, November 19, 2012, 1:40 PM "We are in the midst of a major deleveraging in the entire developed world," says BlackRockCIO Rick Rieder, with a rare kind word for those piling into "safe" assets like Treasurys and high-grade corporate debt. He points to an unprecedented aging of the population as keeping a lid on growth. Instead of losses, just maybe a backup in rates will bring forth another wave of cash now sitting on the sidelines. 1 Comment [U.S. Economy, Global & FX]

LWC SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Corporate Bond ETF

LWC

SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Corporate Bond ETF