Tag: george yacik

Should The Fed Be Above Criticism?

Posted on by George Yacik

I suppose it was just a matter of time, but Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) finally hit the bond market last week.

According to some experts, last week’s nearly 10 basis point jump in long-term Treasury bond yields was at least partially due to the president’s unprecedented and impertinent statement that he didn’t like the fact that the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates.

For the past two years, the financial markets have been an island of blissful ignorance, totally disregarding all of the nonsense swirling around the White House, whether real or invented. The S&P 500 has risen about 30% since Donald Trump’s election despite all of the clouds hanging over his presidency, from alleged collusion with the Russians to the Paul Manafort thing to Stormy Daniels to surrendering American sovereignty to Vladimir Putin.

But now apparently the president has finally stepped in it deep enough to rattle the markets.

Last week the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose seven basis points to close the week just below 2.90%, its highest weekly close in a month. The yield on the 30-year bond jumped 10 bps to 3.03%, its highest level since June 26. According to the Wall Street Journal, some of that rise was due to Trump’s comments about Fed policy, neglecting to mention that the yield on the 10-year German government note – the European benchmark – was also up sharply last week, up nine bps on the week to 0.37%, its highest level since June 20.

So what did Trump say about the Fed that was so disturbing that it led some bondholders and traders to dump Treasury bonds and German Bunds? Continue reading "Should The Fed Be Above Criticism?" →

Who's Winning The 'Trade War'?

Posted on by George Yacik

Just how crazy is Donald Trump?

Back at the beginning of March, the president famously tweeted:

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”
- President Donald Trump

You probably don’t remember what the exact reaction to that was, but you can probably guess it involved hoots of derisive laughter. After all, the idea of the president of the United States upsetting the world apple cart by supposedly starting a trade war with China and our biggest trade partners and closest allies was the height of lunacy.

But who’s laughing now? Continue reading "Who's Winning The 'Trade War'?" →

Will China Nuke Its Own Treasury Portfolio?

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates - China U.S. government debt


If you’re an investor in U.S. Treasury bonds, should you be worried that China may go nuclear? (No, not that kind of nuclear, the kind in the headline of a recent Reuters article about China’s supposed “nuclear option” to stop buying, if not outright sell, its huge holdings of American government bonds).

According to that report – speculation, really – China may consider retaliating against President Trump’s tough tariff talk by pulling its indirect support of the U.S. government, namely its holdings of about $1.2 trillion of Treasury securities. That makes it the largest foreign holder of that debt. Japan is a close second with $1.1 trillion, while Ireland (Ireland?) is a distant third with $328 billion. Altogether, $6.2 trillion of the U.S. government’s total debt of $20 trillion is held by foreign entities or about 31%. That would put China’s share at about 18% of the total foreign-held amount and less than 6% of the grand total.

In case you were wondering, the Federal Reserve holds about $4.5 trillion of the national debt or about four times what China owns. The Social Security Administration owns about $2.8 trillion.

So, is this something we really need to be worried about, even under the remote possibility that China would actually, in financial terms, cut off its nose to spite its face? Continue reading "Will China Nuke Its Own Treasury Portfolio?" →

The Powell Era Begins

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates - Powell


New Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had all kinds of excuses not to raise interest rates at last week’s FOMC meeting:

  • The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was trading close to its highest point in more than four years and dangerously close to breaking the 3% barrier.
  • Stocks have fallen well off their highs, and investors are nervous about the prospects of a potential trade war between the U.S. and its biggest trading partners, particularly China and Canada.
  • The threat of that trade war has influenced some economic forecasters to lower their GDP growth forecasts for the first quarter to below 2%, which would be the lowest level since President Trump took office.
  • The turmoil in the Trump Administration, with cabinet secretaries and other senior officials jumping ship or being pushed overboard, doesn’t help calm the waters.

Yet Powell and the seven other voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee saw fit to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. Not only that, but the FOMC stuck to its guns and indicated a steady diet of rate increases over the next three years, pushing rates closer and closer back to what used to be normal before the global financial crisis. After three rate increases this year, three more are likely next year followed by two more in 2020, which would boost the fed funds rates to a range of 3.25% and 3.5%.

And yet the world didn’t end. In fact, the yields on Treasury securities actually fell after the meeting ended on Wednesday afternoon. The 10-year note, the bond market’s long-term benchmark, trading just below 2.90% on Tuesday, fell five basis points after the meeting to 2.85%. The yield on the two-year note, which is more sensitive to interest rate changes, dropped seven bps after the meeting. Continue reading "The Powell Era Begins" →

Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates - Glass-Steagall


When doing some background research for this column, I came across this article in the May 12, 2017, edition of the Los Angeles Times: “Something Trump and Elizabeth Warren Agree On: Bringing Back Glass-Steagall to Break Up Big Banks.”

Whatever happened to that idea?

As kookie and wrong-headed on other issues as Senator “Pocahontas” often is, she’s at least been pretty consistent when it comes to her view of the banking industry (she doesn’t like it). And according to the article, she wasn’t alone in wanting to “break up the biggest U.S. banks.” Guess who else was on that list? None other than departing White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn.

Trump himself said, “We’re looking at it right now as we speak,” referring to “going back to the old system” under the Glass-Steagall Act in which commercial and investment banking were separated. Continue reading "Be Careful What You Wish For" →