Bonds News

Birmingham - Jefferson County, Alabama declared the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history this week. The debt stems from an upgraded sewer system.

In the short term, both the US dollar and US Treasury bonds may actually benefit from the downgrade of the US debt and react to panic buying.

In a worrying sign that US government spending is untempered and that the real prospect of a US default looms ahead of debates on raising the credit ceiling, US debt figures climbed above the $14 trillion mark.

The market action since January 19th shows that the momentum from excessive liquidity is ebbing before the recovery can bloom. Now, the market is searching for corroboration to justify current levels.

The pre-budget report on Wednesday seems likely to include a one-off windfall tax on banks and wealthy individuals in the UK. It is not how they spend their money, but how the government spends it, that is the real, long-term issue for the UK.

A lot more bids around than offers in US bond markets. Some business done in the industrial sector, financials well bid, although some FRN paper was still around

OK.. after a touch of gloom and doom yesterday, an attempt at being more upbeat about the markets today as December gets under way.

While the U.S. economy is showing signs of recovery in some segments, the intermediate and long term damage to the greenback may already be in motion.

Max Keiser was on France 24 this week to discuss recent government numbers, business and financial headlines and the leadership from both the US and Europe.

One reason for the credit crunch is that credit rating agencies failed to do their job. Here's a proposal of how to restructure their incentives so they serve buyers of debt instruments (bonds, derivatives, etc.) -- not just issuers.