Morningstar DBRS Confirms Mexico at BBB, Stable Trend
Morningstar DBRS confirmed Mexico’s long‑term sovereign rating at BBB and short‑term rating at R‑2, both with a Stable trend. The agency highlighted the Sheinbaum administration’s fiscal consolidation, noting the public‑sector borrowing requirement fell to 4.9% of GDP in 2025 and is projected to reach 3.5% by 2027. Economic growth is expected to pick up, with IMF forecasts of 1.6% in 2026 and 2.2% in 2027, supported by a less restrictive policy stance and solid U.S. demand. However, governance, rule‑of‑law and structural productivity issues remain credit risks.
Morningstar DBRS Finalizes Provisional Credit Ratings on Towd Point Mortgage Trust 2026-FIX2
Morningstar DBRS finalized provisional ratings for Towd Point Mortgage Trust’s 2026‑FIX2 HELOC securitization, assigning AAA to the $285.8 million Class A1A, $3.6 million Class A1B and $289.4 million Class A1 tranches, and AA to multiple $16.6 million Class A2 series. The transaction pools 3,601...
Morningstar DBRS Finalizes Its Provisional Credit Ratings on Chase Home Lending Mortgage Trust 2026-4
Morningstar DBRS finalized provisional credit ratings for Chase Home Lending Mortgage Trust 2026‑4 series. The agency assigned AAA (sf) ratings to senior classes representing roughly $2.5 billion of mortgage pass‑through certificates. The underlying pool comprises 428 prime jumbo mortgages with a...
Morningstar DBRS Releases Updated Monthly Canadian ABCP Report and Launches Issuer Performance Analytics Reports for Canadian ABCP
Morningstar DBRS has refreshed its Monthly Canadian ABCP Report, adding deeper insight into collateral trends and credit‑enhancement levels for publicly rated asset‑backed commercial paper. The firm also launched Performance Analytic Reports (PARs) that provide a visual snapshot of each ABCP note’s...
Now Is the Time to Rebalance Your Portfolio and Snap up These Bonds, UBS Says
UBS’s chief investment officer for the Americas, Ulrike Hoffmann‑Burchardi, says the S&P 500’s record highs create a strategic moment to rebalance portfolios toward high‑quality government bonds. Recent spikes in Treasury yields, especially on two‑year, five‑year and 10‑year notes, provide a “compelling...
PennyMac Brings $415.7 Million in RMBS to Market
PennyMac’s PMT Loan Trust 2026‑INV5 is launching a $415.7 million residential mortgage‑backed securities (RMBS) offering. The pool comprises 1,095 fixed‑rate mortgages, with 75.4% secured by investment‑property loans and the remainder by second homes. Tranches A‑6 through A‑30 carry a 5.00% coupon,...
Ethan Harris: Core Concerns, Fed Follies
The Loadstar premium piece aggregates recent Federal Reserve developments, noting a series of modest rate hikes, a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell, and mixed inflation signals that keep markets uneasy. Minutes from the last policy meeting reveal that a...
Municipal Advisor for PFA, CalCHA Defends Distressed Deals
GPM Municipal Advisors, the municipal advisor for California Community Housing Agency (CalCHA) and the Public Finance Authority (PFA), defended its role amid a wave of distressed workforce‑housing bond deals. CalCHA’s $2.5 billion portfolio of 14 projects has seven assets in default...
Falling Average Trade Size Shows SMA Demand, Growing Electronification
The average municipal‑bond trade size slipped below $204,000 in Q1, a 5% drop from the prior year, reflecting a surge in separately managed accounts (SMAs). SMAs now hold roughly $1.3 trillion in assets across about 180 managers, fueling a constant flow...
Moody's Knocks a Private Vermont College Deeper Into Junk
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Saint Michael's College, a small Catholic liberal‑arts school in Vermont, to a B3 rating, moving it deeper into junk territory from B1. The college carries $57.9 million of outstanding debt and has posted three consecutive years of...
Treasury Department Announces New Series I Bond Rate of 4.26% for the Next Six Months
The U.S. Treasury announced that newly purchased Series I savings bonds will earn a composite rate of 4.26% from May 1 through October 31, 2026, up from the 4.03% rate that applied through April. The composite rate combines a 0.90% fixed component with...
Federal Reserve Holds Rates Steady for Fourth Straight Meeting as Inflation Risks Persist
The Federal Reserve held the federal funds target range at 3.5%‑3.75% for the fourth consecutive meeting, citing persistent inflation and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Inflation measured by the PCE index rose 3.5% year‑over‑year, with core PCE at 3.2%, while the unemployment...
Shapoorji and Pallonji Group in Talks with JPMorgan, BlackRock for High-Yield Bond Sale
Shapoorji and Pallonji Group is negotiating a high‑yield bond issuance with global investors, including JPMorgan and BlackRock, to raise up to $1 billion at a minimum 14% yield. The three‑year dollar bonds are intended to refinance debt of its subsidiary Goswami...
What Did BoC, Fed Meetings Tell Us About the Path Ahead for Interest Rates?
The Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve both left policy rates unchanged, maintaining a 1.25‑percentage‑point gap. Each central bank faces distinct challenges: the U.S. enjoys solid growth but wrestles with sticky inflation, while Canada grapples with weaker GDP...
Nordea Awarded €1 Billion ESG-Focused Covered Bond Mandate by ABN AMRO
Nordea Asset Management has won a nearly €1 billion (≈$1.09 billion) ESG‑focused European covered bond mandate from ABN AMRO Investment Solutions. The strategy, named ABN AMRO Nordea European Covered Bonds, will be run by Nordea’s Fixed Income Rates Team and classified as an Article 8 product...
Jamaica Returns for New $150m World Bank Cat Bond to Replace Coverage Triggered by Melissa
Jamaica is issuing a $150 million parametric catastrophe bond through the World Bank’s IBRD, slated for a 2026‑2030 term. The new CAR Jamaica 2026 bond replaces the coverage that paid out after Hurricane Melissa triggered the 2024 issuance. It uses a...
Ouch. The U.S. 30-Year Treasury Yield Just Hit 5% and Bitcoin May Pay the Price
U.S. 30‑year Treasury yields surged to 5%—the highest level since July 2025—after hawkish dissent within the Federal Reserve and a rally in oil prices. The spike makes long‑term bonds a near‑risk‑free alternative, prompting investors to shift capital away from risk assets...
HK's Airport Authority Prices Record HK$19bn Multi-Tranche Bond Amid Strong Demand
Airport Authority Hong Kong priced a HK$19 billion (US$2.42 billion) multi‑tranche senior notes offering, one of the largest local‑currency bond deals in recent years. The issue was oversubscribed 2.9 times, reflecting strong demand for high‑grade HK‑dollar debt. Proceeds will fund the second runway...
HK's Airport Authority Issues Record HK$19bn Multi-Tranche Bond Amid Strong Demand
The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) priced a HK$19 billion (US$2.42 billion) multi‑tranche senior notes offering, the largest local‑currency bond issuance by a public‑sector entity this year. The deal featured 5‑year and 10‑year maturities and was oversubscribed, with demand about 30 percent above...
Bank of England Live: Interest Rates Tipped to Be Held as Oil Hits 2022 High
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee met at 12 pm to decide on the Bank Rate, with most analysts betting the 3.75 % rate would be held despite hints of dissent. Inflation in the UK rose to 3.3 % in March, up...
Japan’s Record Sales of Euro Bonds Show Historic Funding Shift
Japanese issuers sold a record €18.5 billion (≈ $21.6 billion) of euro‑denominated bonds in 2026, more than five times the amount sold a year earlier. Dollar issuance grew modestly to about $45 billion, while yen‑denominated funding slipped 3.6% to roughly $45.7 billion. The shift reflects...
Lendmark Financial Floats $300 Million in ABS
Lendmark Financial Services is launching a $300 million asset‑backed security backed by personal loans, to be issued through the Lendmark Funding Trust series 2026‑1 with a May 6 closing. The issuance is split into four tranches—A, B, C and D—rated AAA, AA, A...
Interest Rates Expected to Be Held as Uncertainty over Iran War Continues
The Bank of England is expected to keep its benchmark rate at 3.75% as the Monetary Policy Committee weighs the lingering fallout from the Iran conflict. Inflation remains stubborn at 3.3%, still above the 2% target, prompting a cautious stance....
April FOMC: Hawks Push Back As Inflation Risks Rise
The Federal Reserve left its policy range unchanged at 3.50%‑3.75% during the April 2026 FOMC meeting, but three regional presidents formally dissented, flagging concerns over persistent inflation and volatile energy prices. Chair Jerome Powell stressed Fed independence and signaled a...
Stock Investors Fared Very Well Under Powell. Bond Investors, Not so Much
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to depart after eight years, leaving a market record that favors equities. The Dow Jones rose about 9% per year and the S&P 500 surged 14.7% annually, the third‑best performance for a Fed chair...
Covenant Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF $BIV
Covenant Asset Management LLC disclosed a new 13F filing showing it bought 15,113 shares of Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) for roughly $1.18 million in the fourth quarter. The purchase adds to a wave of institutional activity, with Wealthfront, M&T Bank,...
Morningstar DBRS Confirms BCI QuadReal Realty Trust at AA (Low) With a Stable Trend
Morningstar DBRS confirmed that BCI QuadReal Realty Trust (BQRT) retains an AA (low) issuer rating, AA (low) senior notes rating, and R‑1 (low) commercial paper rating, all with stable trends. The Trust, a successor to BCI QuadReal Realty, benefits from...
Fed Leaves Rate Unchanged During Powell’s Final Meeting as Chair
The Federal Reserve left its target federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5%‑3.75% during Chairman Jerome Powell’s final FOMC meeting, despite dissent from Governor Stephen Miran and three regional presidents. Recent data show a resilient labor market, a modest rise in...
Morningstar DBRS Confirms Lakeridge Health's Credit Ratings at AA, Stable Trends
Morningstar DBRS reaffirmed Lakeridge Health’s issuer and senior unsecured debenture ratings at AA with a Stable trend, emphasizing the province’s robust financial backing. The Durham‑region hospital is a key acute‑care provider for a fast‑growing population, yet it has posted consecutive...
Moody's Downgrades Northern Illinois University to Junk
Moody's Ratings downgraded Northern Illinois University’s issuer and revenue‑bond ratings to speculative‑grade Ba1, ending its investment‑grade status. The university carries about $301 million of debt and posted less than 1× debt‑service coverage in fiscal 2025. NIU cited a balanced current budget,...
Morningstar DBRS Discontinues Credit Rating on TD Global Legislative Covered Bonds, Series CBL41
Morningstar DBRS announced the discontinuation of its credit rating for Toronto‑Dominion Bank’s Global Legislative Covered Bond Series CBL41, citing full repayment of the issue. The rating, originally initiated in 2014, was part of the bank’s broader covered‑bond programme, which saw...
Morningstar DBRS Confirms Credit Ratings on All Classes of Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Trust 2015-C31
Morningstar DBRS confirmed credit ratings for all remaining classes of the Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Trust 2015‑C31, assigning BBB (high) to Class C and stable trends to the other tranches. The agency noted $589.6 million of principal paydown since its May 2025...
Fed Split Widens as Rates Stay on Hold Amid Inflation Fears
The Federal Reserve kept its policy rate in the 3.50‑3.75% range but issued its most divided statement since 1992, with an 8‑4 vote and three officials dissenting over an easing bias. The Fed highlighted rising inflation, now described as "elevated"...
Fed Can Stay on Hold This Year, JPMorgan's Michele Says
JPMorgan economist Michele says the Federal Reserve can keep its policy rate unchanged through the end of 2026 despite lingering inflation pressures. The commentary highlights that oil prices remain near $150 per barrel and gasoline above $4 per gallon, which...
Tropical Smoothie Café Whips up $270 Million in ABS
Tropical Smoothie Café has launched a $270 million asset‑backed securities program, pledging cash flow from existing and future franchise royalties, supplier rebates and other fees. The deal issues two tranches—Class A2 and M notes—with an anticipated repayment in May 2031 and a final...
Years After TCJA's Enactment, Push to Restore Tax-Exempt Advance Refunding Continues
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated tax‑exempt advance refundings, a long‑standing municipal financing tool, and the provision will turn ten next year. State and local issuers, led by Michigan Treasurer Rachael Eubanks, argue that rising interest rates have...
Stable Sea Taps WisdomTree to Bring Tokenized Treasury Yield to Business Operating Cash
Stable Sea has partnered with asset manager WisdomTree to embed its tokenized money‑market fund WTGXX into the Stable Sea Terminal platform, giving business treasuries direct access to on‑chain U.S. Treasury yields. WTGXX holds about $855 million in tokenized Treasuries and ranks...
Fannie Earnings Stable in First Quarter
HUD’s assistant secretary for Fair Housing, Craig Trainor, warned that non‑compliant fair‑housing advocates could face an “investigative storm.” A scheduled FHFA‑HUD press conference was abruptly cancelled, fueling speculation that it was tied to the rollout of VantageScore 4.0. Investment firm PIMCO...
Hut 8 Selling $3.25bn in Bonds to Finance Google and Anthropic-Backed River Bend AI Data Center Campus
Hut 8 is issuing $3.25 billion of investment‑grade bonds due 2042 to finance its 245 MW River Bend AI data‑center campus in Louisiana, the first phase of a potential 2.295 GW partnership with Fluidstack and Anthropic backed by Google. The 592‑acre site can scale beyond...
U.S. Treasury Yields Hit Highest Levels Since March as Oil Surges
U.S. Treasury yields surged to their highest levels this month as oil prices spiked following the U.S. attack on Iran, eroding market hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts. The two‑year note rose to about 3.90% and the 30‑year approached 5%,...
Jeffrey Gundlach: Beware the Ides of June | CNBC
Jeffrey Gundlach told CNBC the Federal Reserve’s final post‑meeting tone was markedly hawkish, validating the recent bond‑market sell‑off. He expects headline CPI to climb to a 4% annual rate, making any Fed rate cuts this year implausible and suggesting the...
EDV: A +5.1% Is Not Enough For Me To Justify A 3.3x Sensitivity
Vanguard’s Extended Duration Treasury Index ETF (EDV) offers a 5.1% yield to maturity but carries a permanent ~24‑year duration, making its price sensitivity roughly 3.3‑times that of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The fund’s beta of 3.46 reflects extreme...
Paving the Way for a Warsh Fed
The Justice Department’s decision to drop its probe into the Fed’s building renovation clears the path for Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the next Federal Reserve chair. Warsh, long viewed as an inflation hawk, now emphasizes a nuanced definition of inflation,...
Treasuries Slump as Fed Division Reveals Split on Rate Outlook
The Federal Reserve kept rates steady on April 29, but a clear split emerged among policymakers over the Middle East war’s inflation impact. Treasury yields rose sharply, with the two‑year note hitting 3.94% and the 30‑year approaching 5%. Market pricing...
Iran War Is Fueling a Bond Selloff Ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Fin...
Investor anxiety over the Iran war’s oil shock is driving a bond sell‑off as the 10‑year Treasury yield climbed to 4.39%. Elevated crude prices above $109 per barrel have pushed inflation expectations toward 3%, keeping the Federal Reserve on hold...
German Finance Minister Doesn’t Rule Out Emergency Borrowing as ‘Trump’s Irresponsible War’ Bites
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warned that Germany will need unprecedented borrowing over the next four years, with a budget plan calling for €200 billion ($215 billion) next year and €600 billion ($645 billion) over the following three years. About €85 billion ($91 billion) will be...
Bank of Canada Makes Interest Rate Decision
The Bank of Canada left its overnight policy rate unchanged at 2.25% as inflation rebounded to 2.4% in March, driven by a spike in energy prices linked to the US‑Israeli conflict and the Strait of Hormuz closure. Unemployment held steady...
UK Interest Rates: Will the Bank of England Increase the Base Rate?
The UK’s July energy price cap is set to rise to £1,836 a year (≈ $2,300), a 12% jump linked to the Strait of Hormuz blockage. Inflation remains above the Bank of England’s 2% target and is forecast to hit 4%...
America’s Bond-Market Privilege Is Disappearing as US Debt Soars
U.S. Treasury bonds are losing their historic convenience‑yield premium as the federal debt swells past $31 trillion, now over 100% of GDP and projected to hit 120% within a decade. Research from Harvard’s Wenxin Du shows the premium has shrunk by...
Can Canada Borrow Its Way to Wealth with the New Canada Strong Fund?
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the Canada Strong Fund, a new sovereign‑wealth vehicle seeded with a $25 bn CAD ($18 bn USD) federal contribution financed through borrowing. The fund will be managed as an arm’s‑length Crown corporation and will invite retail investors...