The U.S. has supplanted China and Brazil as the most attractive market for investors as confidence in the global economic recovery wanes in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. Investors are putting their money on President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the U.S. economy even as his job-approval rating has declined, according to a global quarterly [...]

bonds, China, Euro, investments, oil, stock market, US Hide

President Barack Obama is poised to increase the U.S. debt to a level that exceeds the value of the nation’s annual economic output, a step toward what Bill Gross called a “debt super cycle.” The CHART OF THE DAY tracks U.S. gross domestic product and the government’s total debt, which rose past $13 trillion for the first [...]

bonds, debt, dollar, Interest rates, recovery, unemployment, US Hide

Money markets and the cost of protecting bank bonds from losses show investors are concerned the almost $1 trillion rescue plan announced by European leaders may not be enough to contain the region’s sovereign debt crisis. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of credit-default swaps on 20 European banks was last at 130.5 basis points compared [...]

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European policy makers unveiled an unprecedented loan package worth almost $1 trillion and a program of bond purchases as they spearheaded a global drive to stop a sovereign-debt crisis that threatened to shatter confidence in the euro. Jolted into action by last week’s slide in the currency and soaring bond yields in Portugal and Spain, [...]

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Euro-region ministers agreed to a 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greeceto prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history from spreading through the rest of the bloc. The first payment will be made before Greece’s next bond redemption on May 19, said Jean-Claude Juncker after chairing a meeting of euro-region [...]

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While the eyes of the world focus on Greece’s debt crisis, investors in Edinburgh are busy preparing for the U.K. to be next. Turcan Connell, which caters to rich families, expects the pound to lose between 20 percent and 30 percent against the dollar once investors turn their sights on Britain as the government sells [...]

bonds, debt, forex, greece, UK Hide

THIS year, bond unit trust funds will continue to be an important component in an investor’s portfolio although their performance will be tied to the global economic scenario. When the economy is weak or is heading towards a recession, bonds will generally outperform equities as investors flee for safety asset class. But during an economic [...]

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It was the age of zeroes, the epoch of naughts, an era when we started with something and added just about nothing. At least that’s what stock market commentators have been gravely telling us for at least a year. The 2000s, they argue, was a lost decade. And at first glance, they appear to have [...]

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A belief that economic tumult has not completely passed and that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to make any dramatic rate moves has unexpectedly driven investors into Treasury auctions this week, bond experts say. Sales this week of 2-, 5- and 7-year US Treasury notes fetched higher demand than many analysts anticipated. The latter two [...]

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Treasuries were the worst performing sovereign debt market in 2009 as the U.S. sold $2.1 trillion of notes and bonds to fund extraordinary efforts to bolster the economy and financial markets. Investors in U.S. debt lost 3.5 percent on average through Dec. 30, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes, the biggest annual slide [...]

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