Did you know... When interest rates are threatening to rise, many income investors hesitate to lock in fixed rate coupons. The use of Fixed to Floating or Floating-Rate securities in an income generating strategy could be a solution for obtaining higher yields with investment grade securities as rates rise. A floating rate structured security has... Read more »

What's in the News: The last few days have prompted many questions for investors. What happened to solid economic expansion? What happened to improved corporate earnings? What will be the effects of the Fed’s balance sheet reduction? Will the government avoid another shut down? Inflationary fears are causing a bit of panic in the capital markets,... Read more »

What's in the News: The extended hunt for yield that began after the 2008-2009 financial crisis continues to exert extraordinary pressures on fixed income yields, pricings, and the interdependence between credit markets. Demand for investment grade assets to produce the highest possible current income has led to a persistent flattening of the US... Read more »

What's in the News: In a recent NASDAQ article, a 59 year old man preparing for retirement remarked, “It's absolutely ridiculous how hard it is to generate income”. While we all continue to wait for higher interest rates, baby boomers and older retirees are thirsting for yield after spending roughly a decade waiting for a meaningful increase.... Read more »

What's in the News: You may have noticed that the yield curve has been flattening over the past few weeks, with the spread between the two-year Treasury yield and the 10-year treasury yield narrowing to a mere 56 basis points. Flattening of the curve often signals concerns about economic growth, and when the curve dips below or inverts it can... Read more »

What's in the News: In November, several high yield, non-investment grade “junk bonds” declined, causing concern about the high yield bond market. Consequently, ETF’s that buy high yield bonds have seen price declines, for example, iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) had a six day decline, and SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond... Read more »

What's in the News: Last week was a busy week for the fixed income markets. Federal Reserve policy makers chose to keep interest rates unchanged. The Fed believes that the economy is growing at a “solid rate”, however, core inflation remains below their target of 2% and expected labor market conditions gave them pause. Before jetting off to Asia,... Read more »

What's in the News: As we prepare for the President to possibly replace Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve Chair in February, the fixed income markets have been reacting as possible front runners for the seat have been announced. Earlier this month the market was rattled by the news that John Taylor was allegedly the front runner for the position,... Read more »