The TwentyFour Blog

With the Bank of England doling out a double dose of doom on UK inflation and growth on Thursday, Eoin Walsh says it is refreshing for investors to get such a candid assessment from a central bank.

With bank Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds broadly trading at a 10% discount to par and many being priced to perpetuity, Dillon Lancaster suggests investors are either missing or ignoring the solid fundamentals on show in Q2 earnings.

Pierre Beniguel explains why high yield issuers are selling new bonds at steep discounts to par value, and why this represents an opportunity to build potentially significant performance into fixed income portfolios going forward.

European ABS issuers largely held off on printing new deals in Q2 as broader market volatility saw spreads widen, but we are already seeing more investor-friendly structures and many favoured names are likely to bring deals offering markedly higher yields when activity picks up again.

With earnings season entering full swing, David Norris highlights some indicators to look out for when assessing the current state of the US economy and the resulting actions expected from the Fed.

US banks remain bullish about the health of the consumer, but credit spreads are still pricing in not only a recession, but a fairly severe one. Are the banks wrong? Or have credit markets just backed up too far on negative fund flows?

With yields on B rated CLO bonds now as high as 18%, Elena Rinaldi looks at various scenarios for corporate default rates and questions why investors are overshooting even the most pessimistic scenarios.

With corporate bond spreads having risen to not far short of crisis levels, Johnathan Owen argues the 4%-plus yields on offer in short dated investment grade are an attractive entry point for investors that might not be around for long.

With Heimstaden showing its commitment to corporate hybrids with a €600m tender offer, Pierre Beniguel looks at the complex decision issuers have to make and says more could follow suit with bonds trading at steep discounts.

European ABS and CLOs had a turbulent Q2 as broader macro headwinds sparked heavy selling, but investors have made good use of direct trading to pick up bonds at prices not seen since Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

Political chaos is once again taking the headlines in the UK, but bond investors should be cheering the UK regulator’s decision to raise banks’ capital buffers in preparation for an anticipated economic downturn, says Gary Kirk.

With investors seemingly unwilling to put money to work until they see clear evidence of the inflation trend reversing, Felipe Villarroel looks at two developments that tentatively suggest central banks’ delicate balancing act is actually working.