Markets

Euro zone stresses are back in the spotlight with a report on France that was issued by Moody’s late in the North American afternoon. It was not a rating action but rather an annual update on the state of the country. The agency noted that…

Municipal bondholders have something else to worry about. If Occupy Wall Street has legs, and, if labor unions handcuff the protestors' agenda ("Major Unions Join Occupy Wall Street Protest" - New York Times, October 5, 2011), will that…

The following note from Gulf News reinforces the concept that high population growth in the Middle East will slow the amount of oil available for export. I believe the consequences are higher prices.

Here are a few charts from the credit default swaps market based on 5-year CDS. Here’s what I see.

This is pretty funny. (Hat tip Scott)

We stumbled upon this interesting chart from the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s 2011 Annual report which shows the share of owner equity in household real estate. It surprised us, not so much in that it is at record lows, but that…

I see this as a macro call. High yield is attractive if you think that the economy will rebound. if not, the extremely low high yield default rate will rise considerably, as will yields.

The elevated volatility levels have made for difficult times for many investors. To simplify the complexity, there is much reference to risk-on and risk-off. We look at the correlations (60-day rolling correlation of the percentage change)…

US dollar broadly weaker as risk appetite returns; correction across asset classes. Merkel and Sarkozy promise comprehensive plan to shore up banks and give closure on Greece in early. US fixed income markets closed today. Canadian markets…

We have been structurally bearish on equities since Absolute Return Partners was established in 2002. ‘Structurally bearish’ does not imply that we, or our clients, have had no exposure to equities throughout this period. Neither does it…