Is that the sound of vol crashing?

As I look at “MOVE Index GP W” on my Bloomberg, I cannot help but think that the vol market is saying something quite different than the panicky global headlines would suggests. MOVE, a gamma index for Treasury implied volatilities, is flirting with lows not seen...

Ben and the SFP

Just a quick note today in between meetings on the west coast - First, there are no surprises I can find in the HH testimony today. It was a classic Ben Bernanke “dovish” speech, with the classic market reaction taking stocks and bonds higher. The extended period is...

Remain calm – all is well

I spent the bulk of Friday last week trying to convince numerous clients, traders, salespeople and even some reporters that the discount rate move was not meaningful for the monetary policy outlook. More importantly, I tried to refocus attention to the data from last...

The Narrow Fed Camp

It used to be painful to read a Plosser speech. I recall this little gem from early 2008: “I am still optimistic that the economy will improve appreciably by the third and fourth quarters of 2008, and that is when any monetary policy action today will begin to have...

The things I am watching closely to start the week

1. Record Steepness - 5s30s at 234 and 2s10s at 288 are new records for the curve which were set late Friday and into the Asia session this morning. While it is no doubt difficult to for all asset managers to buy the record highs, the fact remains that we have broken...

Who loves ya, baby?

And so the headlines read -- “European Leaders Agree to Rescue Greece”, “EU Sends Clear Message of Greek Support”, and “EU vows Solidarity”. Bottom line - the EU got cold feet in pushing too hard on its first test case of a rogue member nation. The banks squealed and...

There may actually be a plan for the GSEs

Yesterday's announcements by FNM and FRE that they will be buying out the bulk of their delinquent loans from existing pools in coming months rattled the mortgage market and sent high coupons (6s and 6.5s) swooning lower. As it stands it looks as though FNM will be...

Der Spiegel article on GS and Greece

While I am trying to get my hands on the Der Spiegel article translated to English, I did find this: http://www.newser.com/story/80527/goldman-helped-greece-hide-catastrophic-debt.html which is making the rounds this am and adding fuel to EUR fire. Bottom line is that...

The Taylor/Bernanke celebrity death match and Mortgage TBA

There are a couple things on my mind this morning as the bond markets bounce around in tight ranges. The House Financial Services Committee convenes tomorrow with Bernanke being forced to lay the groundwork for the exit strategy. Kohn's speech last week will likely...

Too big to fail – sovereign style

What is going on in Europe is affecting ALL markets. While there are many complex forces at work, there actually is a very simple storyline that we sadly have witnessed not too long ago. At the center of the firestorm is the simple fact that European (and Global)...