Opened higher; stable, on Euro agreement.
Posted by Don on May 10, 2010
Overnight the 16 European nations agreed to an aid package of €750 billion ($962 billion) for their “most indebted” countries. And just as quickly, interest rates for Greece, Italy, and Spain declined significantly: Greece, trading recently in the 12’s, dropped over 4.5 points to 7.75% Italy and Spain, likewise dropped to the upper 3’s. By the morning’s openings, US...
Read MoreLikely lower, with volatility, on Euro (global) news.
Posted by Don on May 7, 2010
As you probably saw from yesterday’s Dow volatility, the markets are real unsettled, with respect to the global economy. Significantly predominating the news is the Euro situation, and the growing concern and belief that the economic “package” offered to Greece (implied to others, if needed) isn’t going to be enough. The scrutiny on Greece shifted first to other nations,...
Read MoreRates down due to flight to quality, on Euro news.
Posted by Don on May 6, 2010
The concern for the financial soundness of the Eurozone continues to drive interest rates down. Investors simply question whether or not the EU provision (primarily, for Greece) is going to be enough to keep the financial challenges from spreading to other nations, notably Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Last week, the S&P rating system lowered Greece three levels to the junk grade of BB+, and...
Read MoreDown on Euro news.
Posted by Don on May 5, 2010
Rates are down again today, most entirely on Eurozone news. In short, the markets question (read, don’t believe) that Greece’s situation can be contained by the $145 billion guarantee. The length of time it took for (primarily) Germany to consummate this, caused scrutiny into the other surrounding nations, and drove their rates of interest higher. Although Spanish Prime Minister Jose...
Read MoreRates lower on continued Euro concern.
Posted by Don on May 4, 2010
Rates are sharply lower this morning, generally on continued concern that Eurozone financial challenges might spread. Although the Greece agreement has stemmed the imminent threat, the reality of the delay-in-response did cause an affect to Portugal, Spain and other Euro nations; and left the market unsettled. As such, US Treasuries benefited from a significant flight-to-security. Domestically,...
Read MoreStable; Greece settled, and banks buying Treasuries.
Posted by Don on May 3, 2010
Rates are relatively stable today. Yesterday, the EU and Greece communities came to agreement on a $146 billion assist program. Normally, this would cause money to flow back from “safe haven” spots, such as US; but there is still concern that the European financial crisis might spread. Prevailing thought is that this will take some weeks “to unwind.” Nonetheless, for the...
Read MoreRates down on continued Greece concern.
Posted by Don on Apr 30, 2010
A funny market. Even though both the EU and Greece seem confident to finish up an agreement within the next couple of days, there is still concern in the market that this might yet break down — and thus, a flight to security, e.g., US bonds. “Investors are very quick to pull the trigger and buy Treasuries in this risk averse atmosphere,” said Sergey Bondarchuk, an interest-rate strategist...
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