Short-Term German Bonds Pay Negative Interest “I am not so much concerned with the return on capital as I am with the return of capital.” –Will Rogers Want an indication of just how bizarro today’s environment of zero percent interest rates (“ZIRP”) is? Investors just accepted a negative interest rate on short-term German bonds: In an...Read More
S&P Breaks Ranks So, after the U.S. stock market was safely closed yesterday at the end of a tumultuous week, Standard & Poor’s did the deed: it cut its rating of long-term U.S. debt from Triple-A to Double-A. Its competitors, Moody’s and Fitch, are likely to follow in short order, much like gas stations or...Read More
Safe Harbor Scramble Drops Rates Mortgage lenders are anticipating as much as a full point increase in interest rates over the next month. What’s less clear: whether the transition will be smooth (weekly, incremental bumps of say, .25%) or a more abrupt re-pricing. I’ve certainly heard this from lenders before ” like, quarterly for the...Read More
