Bonds

In South Africa, there’s political disquiet this week along with economic discontent. The South African parliament tried and failed to oust President Jacob Zuma in a secret-ballot vote of no confidence. While the failure wasn’t a shock, the final vote was closer than it’s ever been, which has made Zuma’s critics more confident. Zuma is […]

The World Bank has just issued $360 million in so-called “catastrophe bonds” in collaboration with Mexico. Global investors snapped up the bonds — the first issued directly by the World Bank — which will help Mexico cover emergency relief costs in the event of a major hurricane or earthquake, should one hit. 

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates about a quarter percent today, but yields on 10-year Treasury notes have been trading just around their 2017 lows — about 2.21 percent. That’s the interest rate paid to the borrower of these notes. Yields rise when traders expect inflation to increase, and, therefore, interest rates climb. So what […]

The yield on the 10-year treasury has been tumbling for the past week. Another way of saying that is: That is strong demand for these bonds, which causes their price to rise and the interest rates they pay to fall. And that is telling us something about investor thinking — about the Federal Reserve, the president and […]