FICC Focus

High mortgage rates are have a negative effect on Agency mortgage-back securities performance relative to Treasuries, and the Fed's quantitative tightening may make it worse due to changes in sector allocations in the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index.In this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus Podcast, BI Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey is joined by Chief Agency Mortgage Strategist Erica Adelberg and BI North American Rates Strategist Angelo Manolotos who discuss the mortgage market, Canadian interest rates, and how central bank balance sheet runoff could affect the relative returns of several asset classes.

FICC Focus offers the latest market views on interest rates, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, commodities and currencies by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts. In this month's EM Lens & Look-Through podcast, host and BI Chief EM Fixed Income Strategist Damian Sassower is joined by Dr. Win Thin, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Market Strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman. Thin shares his outlook for emerging market currencies, as the stronger greenback is suppressing non-dollar asset class returns, causing the market value of benchmark-eligible debt to decline by nearly 6% in the last month alone.

Political partisanship in Congress will remain wide, which could cause government shutdowns and another debt-ceiling crisis in late 2023, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.In this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus Podcast, BI Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey is joined by BI Government Analyst Nathan Dean as the two discuss the upcoming midterm congressional elections, the federal budget continuing resolution and how political partisanship could affect markets. Dean also talks about scenarios if President Joe Biden doesn’t run for reelection. The US Rates Strategy team recently highlighted increased political partisanship in the Senate. In today’s Fun Fed Fact segment, BI North American Rates Strategist Angelo Manolotos reviews the previous Jackson Hole address by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Jersey and Manolatos discuss what Powell might highlight in his Aug. 26 speech.

In our fifth FX Moment edition, the host, Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) Chief G10 FX Strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman discusses China's current cyclical conundrum, the PBOC outlook and currency implications with Chief Asia FX and Rates Strategist Stephen Chiu.While the weakening Chinese growth dynamics leave the yuan exposed near-term, it does not alter Stephen's more constructive long-term outlook for the Chinese currency.

A 2H recovery may not be the rising tide that lifts all boats as recession, inflation and remaining Covid-19-lockdown risks disproportionately have a negative impact across pockets of health care providers, Macau gaming operations and European consumer and beverage debt issuers. Our global Bloomberg Intelligence team’s analysis suggests competitive pressures may further push Weight Watchers spreads wider, while inflation affects margins for Carrefour and Tesco, and Macau’s casino recovery remains slow. In this Credit Chat edition, Louise Parker, BI European consumer analyst, Cecilia Chan, BI Asia gaming and tech analyst and Mike Holland, BI health care analyst join Robert Schiffman, BI senior credit analyst, to share their views on rising food and beverage prices, China’s gaming challenges and why historically defensive health care credits are showing signs of distress.

The financial services industry has been challenged for years with firms having to navigate the global pandemic and remote work, all while dealing with legacy battles such as fee compression, customer retention and talent recruitment. To that last point, starting a new role during the pandemic is a difficult task for some. Starting a new role as CEO is even more challenging.On this month's Masters of the Muniverse, Eric Kazatsky and co-host Amanda Albright are joined by the new Chief Executive Officer of Mesirow, Natalie Brown.

If the market prices out Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2023, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey thinks that could be enough for the Treasury yield curve to invert more than it has in 40 years.In this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus Podcast, host Jersey is joined by Angelo Manolatos, BI US and Canadian Rates Strategist. Manolatos reviews some details of the consumer price report, including how sticker, lower volatility sectors continue to contribute 3% (more than half) to core CPI - and more worrying is that medium volatility sector prices continue to accelerate. Jersey discusses his views for the Treasury market, including a core view that the yield curve could invert even more.In today’s Fun Fed Fact segment, Manolotos highlights that the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policy making group, has all seats filled for the first time since July 2013. Jersey notes that given the disparate ideologies on the FOMC, a member of the board of governors may dissent in coming quarters.

Global Credit Strategy head Noel Hebert discusses with BI distressed credit analyst Philip Brendel the first up month for distressed in 2022. Bloomberg distressed debt reporter Eliza Ronalds-Hannon joins the call to present the interview she and Brendel conducted with Bill Derrough, Moelis & Company's Global Co-Head of the Capital Structure Advisory (6:07). BI bankruptcy litigation analyst Negisa Balluku joins the panel to share her thoughts on Revlon as well as 3M's and Johnson & Johnson's recent mass tort Chapter 11 cases. (1:07:14). Wrapping up the call is a discussion on the abrupt collision between Crypto and Chapter 11.

If Bloomberg Economics is right at the Federal Reserve hikes to 5%, the two-year Treasury yield should be near 4% and the Treasury yield curve would be more inverted, notes Bloomberg Intelligence.In this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus Podcast, host and BI Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey is joined by Anna Wong, Chief US Economist for Bloomberg Economics and Angelo Manolatos, BI US and Canadian Rates Strategist. Wong discusses why she thinks the Federal Reserve wasn’t as dovish as the market thought, and why additional interest rate hikes may be in the cards even after a soft 2Q GDP print. She details the BE version of the Taylor Rule and her belief that it’s superior to more traditional models. In the Fun Fed Facts segment, Manolatos quips that the Fed’s statement is now 268 words, but could get somewhat shorter over time. Jersey jests that the statement length and the size of the Fed’s balance sheet have been broadly correlated. The strategists briefly discuss the statement as a communications tool in different regimes.

In this second edition of All Options Considered, BI's Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu is joined by Bloomberg radio host Caroline Hepker and Co-Head of Derivatives Strategy at Susquehanna International Group, Chris Murphy, to discuss the latest developments in the volatility landscape of the bond market to S&P 500 and Bitcoin.