In my view the race to bottom regarding asset management fees is adding to market illiquidity. Bloomberg writes there is approximately $8 trillion between ETFs and passive index funds. There is little barrier to entry and hundreds of companies are ...
There is an old market axiom that the markets can remain irrational longer than one can remain solvent. Bank of America commented yesterday that today’s market is the most crowded trade in history. The environment is groupthink on ...
Natixis SA, the large French bank, plunged almost 14% yesterday after MorningStar cited concerns about the “liquidity and appropriateness” of some corporate bond holdings in a fund owned by the Bank. Natixis’s woes added to the rising liquidity fears following the ...
Equities were unable to rebound from yesterday’s selloff. As widely noted, Friday the Dow overcame a 400 point decline trading in a stunning range off 550 points from trough to peak. Technologies were hit the hardest with the NASDAQ down over ...
The recent selloff pales in comparison of selloffs of years’ past. Even though the VIX is rising, in many regards there is still a sense of complacency. With this written, however, several organizations are opining about rising risk. Yesterday Moody’s confirmed a long held...
The VIX or a measurement of volatility (aka risk) has plunged. However as measured by other benchmarks, conviction is very low. Volume has been anemic. The CME stated it has become increasingly easy to exaggerate the price movement of almost any security, the...
Some believe the “illusion” of liquidity could be shattered in the intermediate future as more on Wall Street are adopting the view that technology based trading will be the bane of the markets, a view that I have expressed many times. Bloomberg writes “algorithmic trading strategies...
Earnings season commences Friday. Depending upon the source, first quarter profits are expected to decline anywhere between 4.8% and 9%. JP Morgan writes the majority of the declines will be focused in the ...
UBS wrote a scathing report about the lack of liquidity in the bond market. The firm used words such as “dysfunctional,” “dizzying” and “apocalyptic” to describe the current environment and ...
We are we going? Three months ago the global consensus view was growth. Three months later, the inverse. According to Bloomberg, since November the global universe of negative yielding debt has surged by 75% to approximately $10 trillion. The apex was ...