“Ready, Fire, Aim”?

VIX, the “fear gauge,” measures S&P 500 near-term volatility by using options that expire in 23–37 days. Therefore, the VIX we often discuss is the 1-month volatility index. However, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) also publishes 3-month (VIX3M) and 6-month (VIX6M) volatility…

Government deficit out of control, irresponsible government policies, tumbling bond prices and bank share prices, threat of rating-agency downgrades, political instability – we have seen similar Italian dramas in the past that, in the end, did not lead to serious financial market contagion.…

As the third quarter comes to a close, a fragile sense of optimism for the future of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has blossomed. It has arisen not just from the resolve of its people in the wake of Hurricane Maria but also from important milestones that have been reached in the long…

Readers are invited to check out the background of this case scheduled for SCOTUS at the end of this month: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamble_v._United_States. Here is the Wikipedia summary: “Gamble v.

Treasury yields went up across the curve throughout the third quarter of 2018. Once again the rate move was led by the front end of the yield curve, with Treasury bills and notes out to three years experiencing the largest increase in yield.

As Treasury markets had correctly predicted, the FOMC raised its target range for federal funds by 25 basis points to 2.0%–2.25% at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26.

Updates, budgets, potential future stresses, state ratings, default study, and last but not least, storms

In a year when we have seen commentators talking about the relative flatness of yield curves, we have a conundrum when we look at the US Treasury yield curve and the US muni yield curve (shown here as the Bloomberg AA general obligation yield curve).