All articles tagged with #bonds
Ledn sold $188 million in bonds secured by bitcoin, with Jefferies as structuring agent and bookrunner. The two-tranche deal is backed by 4,078.87 BTC (about $357 million) and includes an investment-grade tranche priced at 335 basis points over the benchmark rate, and carries a BBB- rating, signaling growing demand for bitcoin-backed credit.
Wary signals are flashing: credit spreads on investment-grade bonds have narrowed to about 71 basis points—the tightest since 1998—raising the risk of a bond sell-off if economic conditions worsen, while the stock market's CAPE ratio sits at 40.1 in January 2026, the highest since the dot-com era. If history repeats, the S&P 500 could fall roughly 3% in 1 year, 19% in 2 years, and 30% in 3 years, with little chance of a positive return; though AI-driven earnings could mute the move, the current setup favors caution: trim risk, and limit stock purchases to high-conviction ideas.
Alphabet sold $20 billion in a multi-tranche bond issue and is weighing a sterling debut that could include a 100-year note, part of a broader rush by AI hyperscalers to fund aggressive data-center expansion. Analysts see U.S. corporate bond issuance climbing to about $2.46 trillion in 2026, with hyperscaler debt driving much of the activity this year, following recent large bonds from Oracle, Meta, and others.
Google is reportedly planning a 100-year bond in British pounds after a 50-year issue, paying about 1 percentage point more than U.S. Treasuries to borrow for a century—an indication that investors view Google as nearly as safe as a nation-state after its antitrust remedies. The piece notes Google’s 2025 net income of about $132 billion and planned $185 billion in 2026 capex to boost AI, and discusses how regulators’ actions have shaped investor trust, while Google contends the remedies were flawed and is appealing the ruling.
To hedge a potential crash, the piece recommends three Vanguard ETFs—VGSH (short-term Treasuries) for safety with a ~3.6% yield; BND (total bond market) for diversification and about a 4.2% yield; and VFMV (minimum-volatility stocks) to lower equity risk with a beta around 0.56, though none are crash-proof and the combination aims to cushion losses rather than prevent them.
Mortgage rates held steady this week, with the 30-year fixed around 6.16% and the 15-year at 5.75%, as bonds consolidate after early-week volatility while markets await upcoming economic data.
Japan’s currency moves and a sharp sell-off in long‑dated bonds signal a turning point for its massive debt and the overseas investments it supports; if investors pull back, global capital could tighten, lifting long‑term rates, denting asset values, and triggering spillovers into U.S. markets as confidence in debt‑heavy economies wanes.
A crisis in Japan’s government bond market could ripple into U.S. markets by lifting global yields, potentially raising the cost of borrowing for the United States and shaping Federal Reserve expectations, as investors reassess BoJ policy, currency moves, and cross-border funding dynamics.
Mortgage rates climbed to 6.21% for the 30-year fixed, tying the highest level in about a month, as weakness in global markets and geopolitical events pressured Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. After briefly touching 5.99% earlier in January, rates rose in the wake of the administration’s announced $200 billion mortgage-bond buying plan, with the market awaiting how this program will unfold and how upcoming economic data and geopolitics will influence rate direction.
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said it would sell about $100 million of U.S. Treasuries—roughly 0.4% of its 164 billion Danish-crown portfolio—citing liquidity and diversification needs rather than a symbolic shift away from Treasuries.
U.S. Treasury yields climbed after Trump threatened tariffs on eight European allies, fueling fears of a broader trade war and lifting longer-dated notes; the 10-year yield rose to about 4.273%, with the 20-year and 30-year maturities around 4.86% and 4.904%. The dollar index fell nearly 1% as risk appetite wavered, while European leaders signaled countermeasures and Japanese yields rose on a snap election, underscoring rising global funding costs ahead of Davos.
U.S. stocks opened lower as tariff fears around Greenland spooked investors, with the Dow down about 700 points (~1.6%), the S&P 500 down ~1.4%, and the Nasdaq around ~1.8%; meanwhile the bond market sold off and the 10-year yield climbed toward 4.3%, signaling broad risk-off sentiment driven by tariff headlines and geopolitical tensions.
Former President Donald Trump disclosed purchases totaling at least $1 million in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds, executed in December a few days after Netflix agreed to buy WBD in an $82.7 billion deal; Trump said he would be involved in the merger process, though the portfolio is managed by third-party institutions.
According to a White House financial disclosure, President Trump bought corporate bonds from Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery (and SiriusXM) in December, with values up to $1 million per company; Netflix bonds mature in 2029 and WBD bonds in 2030, as part of a broader mix that included municipal bonds. A White House official said the portfolio is index‑tracking and managed by independent managers, with no input from Trump or his family.
Saks Global Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 after a cash bleed from its Neiman Marcus deal, leaving distressed bonds once snapped up by hedge funds trading at pennies on the dollar. The post-bankruptcy financing package totals about $1.75 billion (including $1.5 billion from senior secured lenders), which could support a turnaround, but recoveries for unsecured creditors and equity holders remain highly uncertain as lenders weigh their bets and challengers like Amazon push back on funding access. This episode underscores the risk of “catching a falling knife” in debt markets.