With the plunge in rate-hike odds and fears over Brexit, it appears the safety of global developed market bonds is sought after as Bloomberg's Developed World Bond yield slumps to just 62bps - a record low. Yields are moving opposite to what economist expected (and have been expecting since the fall of 2011 when Ben Bernanke broke the capital markets).
Record low global bond yields...
Did it ever really matter what Yellen said?
For those who have been forced to trade the market, or provide trading recommendations, the past few months have not been kind: we have seen several instances in recent weeks where a trader lost it, where a strategist - one as prominent as SocGen's Albert Edwards - blew up and admitted "I'm Not Really Sure How Much More Of This I Can Take", and even a central banker went off the rails saying he and his peers are "magic people."
Stocks are now on borrowed time.
Corporate buybacks have been the single largest driver of stock prices in the last quarter. Institutional investors have been net sellers for 17 weeks. And individual investors have been pulling capital out of stock funds in record amounts.
This leaves corporate buybacks as the sole driver of stocks. But now that is ending.
Announced buybacks plunged 34% in 1Q16. This is the single largest plunge in announcements since 2009.
Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
In a bizarre story disclosed over the weekend, we learned that Belgium’s Princess Astrid was robbed by two assailants on a motorbike.
The thieves apparently approached her while she was sitting in traffic, smashed in her window, snatched the Royal Handbag, and sped off with over 2,000 euros in cash.
I have no doubt that was a harrowing experience for the princess, as it would be for anyone.