Fed slows corporate debt purchases to trickle

CreditSights analysts combed through the Fed’s latest portfolio data for trends and found the central bank’s daily purchases dwindled to about $21 million on average through July 30, down from about $180 million of daily buying when the program kicked off in May. The question is where do corporate bond spreads go once the market…

Read More

How Fed bond buying is impacting markets

The Fed’s SMCCF buying program has two effects on the markets and trading. Firstly, its very existence creates confidence that the central bank will buoy up the corporate debt market to counter the impact of COVID-19. Secondly, it actively creates directional investment in the market which generates real liquidity. As the program is set to…

Read More

Reopening risks linger in weary US corporate bond market

Issuers have rushed to market to sell more than US$660bn of the US high-grade bonds in the roughly two months since the Federal Reserve announced its corporate bond purchasing program. Although there is no sign of the issuance slowing, the looming risk of a second wave of Covid-19 only heightens the uncertainty for issuers seeking…

Read More

Fed’s balance sheet tops $7 trillion, shows increased buying of corporate bond ETFs

The Fed’s support has driven up prices for ETFs, after announcing recently it would buy corporate bond exchange-traded funds for its corporate credit facility. Use Overbond to screen for the bond ETFs by pricing with deep liquidity profiling to view individual constituents. Source: MarketWatch The numbers: The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet increased to $7.09 trillion for…

Read More

The Fed Loves Main Street as Much as Wall Street This Time

The Fed has been lauded for doing more for the broader Main Street economy during this pandemic-induced crisis than back in ’08-’09 when seen as mostly as Wall Street’s savior. Source: Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues had a hard decision to make as the coronavirus epidemic worsened in February and March….

Read More

Fed’s Powell says economy in good place, warns on coronavirus

Fed Chairperson Powell calls current policy stance “appropriate”, with the economy in a “good place. Source: Thomson Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. economy is in a good place, even as he cited the potential threat from the coronavirus in China and concerns about the…

Read More