bonds
March and 1Q12 in Figures
March 31, 2012
The dollar posted strong gains in March against the Australian dollar and yen but was narrowly mixed otherwise. Sovereign bond yields rose, led by a 24-bp in the 10-year Treasury. Three-month euribor rates sank sharply. Most equities performed well, while strong January-February gains in gold and oil prices were reversed partly. 10-Yr Yield 03/30/12 Chg [...] More
February in Figures
February 29, 2012
February was a replay of January in certain respects, but there will also some notable market differences between the two months. The similarities involved a weaker dollar, stronger share prices and pinned short-term interest rates. One notable shift was the very weak yen in February compared to January when it merely shadowed the dollar. This [...] More
December, 4Q11, and 2011 in Figures
December 31, 2011
In the final month of 2011, long-term interest rates fell sharply, the dollar mostly rose, and share prices were mostly mixed. Gold prices dived 10.3%, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices hovered near the $100 per barrel level. The 3-month Eurodollar-Euribor deposit rate differential shifted by 40 basis points in support of the United [...] More
November in Figures
November 30, 2011
November had uncanny parallels to October. Most of October had seen a rise in risk appetite and associated weakness in the dollar and strength in equities, and in most of November just the opposite had occurred. Former Greek Prime Minister Papandreou’s proposal to submit the October 26 EU rescue package to a referendum caused that [...] More
October in Figures
November 1, 2011
A revival of risk aversion drove equities and commodities higher and the dollar downward over the bulk of October. News of a Greek voter referendum on November 4 that will quite plausibly torpedo the October 26 EU agreement resulted in a significant trimming of these trends on the final trading day of the month and [...] More
September and the Third Quarter in Figures
September 30, 2011
It’s been a month and quarter for the ages. Investors increasingly priced in a coming U.S. and European recession. All the dire warnings that long-term interest rates will soar because of deficit spending and ensuing inflation could not have been more wrong, yet the thinking behind such predictions continues to control the policy agenda in [...] More
August in Figures
August 31, 2011
In August, risk aversion shot up. Gold soared, while share prices and sovereign bond yields fell sharply. Most commodity prices including oil fell, and so did commodity-sensitive currencies. USD/JPY and EUR/USD closed practically unchanged for the month. Swiss officials took steps to reverse the franc’s strength, enabling the dollar to advance 2.5% against the Swiss [...] More
July in Figures
July 30, 2011
Two interrelated themes played out in July, a slowdown of global growth and unfolding U.S. and European fiscal crises. It was a good month for gold, bond prices and the Swiss franc but a poor one for the euro, dollar, and share prices. Gold advanced by more than $125 per ounce to record highs. Oil [...] More
June and Second Quarter in Figures
June 30, 2011
Despite great concern about Euroland’s peripheral members, the euro advanced against the dollar in both June and the second quarter. Among currencies monitored below, the dollar only rose against sterling during June, but the rate of yuan appreciation was much slower than in April or May. Three-month Euribor rates edged higher in anticipation of a [...] More
May in Figures
May 31, 2011
Sovereign bond yields fell in many cases significantly for a second straight month, while short-term interest rate changes were minimal during May. The Swiss franc and kiwi performed well during the month. Against the euro, the dollar traded in a nearly ten-cent range of $1.4939 to $1.3968, closing 2.9% higher on balance. Dollar/yen dipped briefly [...] More
