Fixed income

Pension funding versus liabilities was close to 100% at the end of 2021, for the first time since the financial crisis, according to investment advisory firm Milliman.

U.S. Treasuries gained, bouncing back from an initial wave of selling after consumer-price inflation accelerated at the fastest annual pace in four decades in December.

The bond selloff that pushed 10-year Treasury yields to their highest in two years may not lead to a full-on taper tantrum, according to one of the biggest Treasury options market makers.

The rapid wage growth underscored the case for a more aggressive tightening by the Fed and capped a punishing week in the bond market.

The municipal market has a history of outperforming during periods when the Fed hikes rates, because as yields rise, the tax-free interest that munis pay makes them more attractive.

The selloff worsened after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed officials considering earlier and faster interest-rate increases than expected.

Treasury yields rose a second day amid increasing conviction that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at least three times beginning in May.

The crosscurrents of persistently high inflation and the pandemic’s refusal to go away have caused large daily swings in yield, indicative of poor liquidity.

Bond traders’ expectations for how fast inflation will rise over the coming five years have topped 3% for the first time on record.

Investors in need of an alternative to certain T-bills are flocking to the Federal Reserve’s facility for reverse repurchase agreements. That’s adding to demand created by T-bill supply cuts.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan said equity gains helped offset fixed income and currency losses in the first half of the year.

What policy makers say about economic inequality at this month’s Jackson Hole symposium is potentially a bigger deal for bond investors than any taper talk.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the market dislocations of the past year resulting from the pandemic had changed the impact that the supplementary leverage ratio was having on the largest banks. After temporarily easing the requirement, the central bank is considering longer-term reforms.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.5% for the first time in a month while the rate on the U.S. long bond dropped to a level unseen since early March.

Relying on retained earnings alone, it would be until at least 2036, if not longer, before government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae might end.

After they reopened on Tuesday, Treasury 10-year yields rose four basis points to touch 1.25% — the highest since last March — while the 30-year equivalent pushed above 2%.

The best mortgage bonds to buy now may be the ones the Federal Reserve is purchasing, because the securities might benefit the most if macro optimism fades.

The deal definitively ends a monthslong war of words between the data provider and stakeholders who attempted a hostile takeover.

Company CEO Michael Nierenberg previously commented the real estate investment trust's parts could be worth more than the whole.

Freddie Mac representatives would not comment on the sudden resignation of Brickman. Interim CEO Michael Hutchins has served as Freddie’s executive vice president of investments and capital markets since January 2015.