FICC Focus

Macro credit trends tend to be based on more of a feel than precise numbers. In this latest episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Chief European Credit Strategist and Heema Patel, Senior Credit Strategy Associate at Bloomberg Intelligence, delve into proprietary research and data on BI STRTE to make macro credit very precise. Explore their novel spread-prediction model with mar...

The Canadian economy is rife with potholes that could potentially be hit by a policy mistake, says Stuart Paul, US and Canadian economist for Bloomberg Economics. Paul joins Macro Matters podcast host and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Chief North American rate strategist Ira Jersey and senior associate rates strategist Will Hoffman to discuss the state of the country’s economy and rate markets. They ta...

As we edge closer to a US Federal Reserve rate decision and a presidential election, municipal credit will get more attention. In this Masters of the Muniverse podcast, hosts and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Eric Kazatsky and Karen Altamirano talk to Jennifer Johnston, director of research, municipal bonds, at Franklin Templeton Fixed Income. She discusses how technology enhances credit researc...

SLR Capital Partners has built expertise in corporate lending, asset-based financing, life-science credits and other segments over nearly two decades. The firm’s cofounders Michael Gross and Bruce Spohler join Bloomberg Intelligence credit analysts Noel Hebert and Sam Geier to talk about how the firm thinks about underwriting risk across borrowers and the types of investment vehicles they’ve built...

Don’t expect “gentlemanly” behavior from corporate boards under financial stress, says Hilco Global’s Vice Chairman James H. M. Sprayregen, as they should consider exercising all the rights available to them under credit agreements to maximize enterprise value. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Phil Brendel and Negisa Balluku speak with Sprayregen, who founded Kirkland & Ellis’s restructuring practice more...

The great dollar-yen unwind is under way, with the combined shift to much more dovish Fed-easing prospects and more hawkish BOJ expectations the perfect trigger to the unwind of the yen carry trade. Audrey Childe-Freeman, Bloomberg Intelligence's chief G-10 FX strategist, talks to BI's Chief Asia FX and Rates Strategist Stephen Chiu about what is still a negative dollar-yen narrative, while acknow...

The unemployment rate will surprise the Fed, rising to 4.5% at the end of this year, says Anna Wong, chief US economist for Bloomberg Economics. Wong joins host and Bloomberg Intelligence chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey to unpack the July FOMC meeting. The pair discuss Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish tilt at the meeting’s Q&A, and what that means for likely rate-policy outcomes. They also the...

With US presidential election campaigns in full swing, we thought it prudent to revisit what this year could mean for the municipal bond market in terms of heightened risks -- and even some scenarios where it would benefit. Though past election years have returned more wins than losses for munis, macroeconomic issues accompanying the election will remain a hurdle. To discuss possible threats and t...

Increased electronification and the growing prevalence of portfolio trading are creating opportunities for systematic credit, which seeks to harness the explosion of data to create models and strategies, says Paul Benson, head of systematic fixed income at Insight Investment. Benson joins BI credit strategists Noel Hebert and Sam Geier to discuss the history of the systematic approach, model depen...

Steven Major, HSBC’s global head of fixed-income research, joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey and BI senior rates strategy associate Will Hoffman to discuss some of the most controversial topics across global bond markets in this Macro Matters edition of the Bloomberg Intelligence FICC Focus podcast. The trio dive into the determinants of longer-run equilibrium int...

The economy is firing on all cylinders and continues to show positive momentum, says Lara Rhame, chief US economist at FS Investments. Rhame joins Macro Matters co-host and Bloomberg Intelligence chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey and senior US rates strategy associate Will Hoffman to discuss the major drivers of the US Treasury market. The trio examine how the Federal Reserve may respond to cur...

In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI's Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu is joined by Matt King, Founder of Satori Insights. They discuss the impact of central bank reserves on cross-asset markets.

Shorecliff Asset Management’s Grant Nachman talks about the intellectually-enriching challenges of launching a new firm in this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Credit Crunch podcast. Grant joins BI’s chief US credit strategist Noel Hebert and his colleague Sam Geier to discuss Shorecliff’s full-cycle credit-investing strategy, the benefits of having a lean team, a bottom-up due-diligence proce...

Murat Ulgen, Global Head of EM Research at HSBC, and BI’s Chief Emerging Markets Credit Strategist Damian Sassower discuss how US yields and the dollar have driven emerging-market risk premiums and how resilient the asset class has been to rates repricing throughout 1H. They note dispersion within the broader market, the role of carry and the drivers behind the sentiment change in specific geograp...

High yield corporate credit had a strong 1H, despite rates volatility, as spreads rallied and defaults stayed low. In Europe, the index default rate stands at 0.85% and the share of stressed and distressed bonds has come down, while it's higher in the US. Will 3Q sustain those gains, and why? Listen to Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence's Chief European Credit Strategist, discuss the resul...

US congressional partisanship is at it’s highest level ever and there’s no fiscal restraint on either side of the aisle, says Macro Matters host and Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief US rate strategist Ira Jersey. He joined BI’s chief European rate strategist Huw Worthington to discuss the implications of global elections across sovereign debt markets. The pair talk about recent volatility spurred by...

French and UK politics generated most headlines in recent weeks -- and France's political conundrum has yet to be solved -- but US politics are likely to take center stage and dictate the dollar's fortunes in the run-up to the Nov. 5 elections. Audrey Childe-Freeman, Bloomberg Intelligence's chief G-10 FX strategist, talks to BI's senior government analyst Nathan Dean about the near-term political...

US Supreme Court Justice Brett M Kavanaugh would have a “great career as a restructuring professional,” according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law professor Melissa B. Jacoby, as his Purdue Pharma 54-page dissent mirrored many bankruptcy lawyers’ skepticism regarding the US trustee’s arguments. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s State of Distressed Debt podcast, part of...

A lot has changed in the world of munis over the past 40 years, but don’t take our word for it. Joining hosts Eric Kazatsky and Karen Altamiranoon the June edition of Masters of the Muniverse is Joe Mysak of Bloomberg News, retiring this month after 40-plus years of covering public finance. In this month’s episode, we discuss Joe’s storied career at Bloomberg, how the muni marke thas changed and w...

Watching the household survey portion of the Employment Situation report may be a better indicator of the economy, Stuart Paul of Bloomberg Economics says on this edition of the Bloomberg Intelligence FICC Focus Podcast. Paul joins host Ira Jersey, BI chief US interest rate strategist, to discuss recent economic data trends, the disconnect between surveys and hard data, upcoming data and the BE ou...

Carry has been the primary driver of EM risk premia in recent years, yet the landscape may be shifting as growth improves, inflation recedes and geopolitical uncertainty takes hold. In this month’s EM Lens & Look-Through podcast, Managing Director of Emerging Markets at TCW Penny Foley joins Bloomberg Intelligence Chief EM Credit Strategist Damian Sassower to discuss demand for idiosyncratic carry...

Diversification, lower default rates and elevated yields are just a few of the features of today’s collateralized loan obligation (CLO) landscape, says Senior Managing Director and Head of Structured Credit at Pretium Jerry Ouderkirk. He joins Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Noel Hebert and Sam Geier on this episode of Credit Crunch to discuss the asset class’ current state and its evolution over...

Citadel and MFN competing to fund an unsecured junior DIP financing was just one of the "remarkable" aspects of Yellow Corp's ongoing bankruptcy, according to its Chief Restructuring Officer Matt Doheny. The North Country Capital's founder and president sat with Bloomberg Intelligence's (BI) Phil Brendel to share his philosophies on distressed investing, derived from a wide-ranging career in law,...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Fed are conflicted on economic data, says Morgan Stanley’s Global Head of Marco Strategy Matt Hornbach in this edition of the Bloomberg Intelligence FICC Focus Podcast. Hornbach joins host and BI Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey to discuss the G3+ central bank, currency and interest-rate outlook. Though the totality of recent US economic d...

Credit markets had a strong nine months of rally, particularly in spreads, although there were yield blips. As the environment changes with rate cuts, led by the ECB, are credit spreads too tight, despite low defaults? Is the rally justified on expected rate cuts for the rest of 2024? In this episode of our Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Chief European Credit Strategist at Bloombe...