Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A tinkle of warning bells is ringing Down Under for investors still waiting for recessions to bite or eagerly anticipating a swift global pivot to interest rate cuts. Earlier this month, Australia’s central bank —
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Walmart said prices for some of its products did not decline as much as it had anticipated during the most recent quarter, reflecting the sticky inflationary environment in the US that is prompting investors to
Issuance of variable rate demand obligations and other floating-rate debt increased in 2023 year-over-year — despite swings in short-term rates — marking the highest total since 2017. However, market participants remain uncertain whether that trend will continue into 2024 as issuers rethink the product amid continued volatility. Variable rate issuance rose 13.8% in 2023, increasing
Total 2023 municipal bond sale volume ticked down slightly year-over-year, but a robust fourth quarter and a late yearend rally saved last year from being the second consecutive year of issuance down double digits. Total volume in 2023 was $384.715 billion in 8,081 deals, down only 1.7% from $391.298 billion in 9,185 deals in 2022,
The amount of debt wrapped by bond insurance rose 5.8% in 2023, leading to the highest market penetration rate since 2008, despite the second year of down issuance. Demand for bond insurance has continued to grow in 2023 as market participants turned to it for investor confidence, increased market liquidity and enhanced credit ratings. All
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has formally withdrawn its 2024 rate card filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an administrative move that keeps in place the reverted rates from 2023. The board has also initiated a retrospective review of the annual rate card process and said it intends to take a hard look at
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Caitlin Devitt (00:04): Hello and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Caitlin Devitt, senior Infrastructure
Average underwriting spreads for all bonds were stagnant in 2023, continuing a 15-year downward trend, but negotiated and refunding deal spreads rose while competitive spreads fell. Underwriter spread ticked up slightly, rising to $3.66 in 2023 from $3.64 in 2022. Spreads on negotiated bonds rose to $3.76 in 2023 from $3.62 in 2022, while spreads
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Barclays’ ties to Britain date back more than 330 years. Expect it to become even more UK-focused in future. Barclays chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan (Venkat), has recognised he must put more capital towards the bank’s
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The eurozone’s collective wage growth has slowed for the first time in 18 months, but economists said the decline was unlikely to be enough to ease rate-setters’ concerns over high inflation. Data released by the
Kali9 | E+ | Getty Images Black women are outpacing Black men when it comes homebuying. Single female homebuyers are most common among Black women, representing 27% of Black homebuyers, according to the 2023 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America report by the National Association of Realtors. To compare, single women represent 24% of
Southwest municipal bond issuance inched higher last year to $83.79 billion with Texas, which accounted for 70% of the debt, taking the top volume crown among states nationwide. The region’s 0.6% gain over 2022 contrasted with the market’s overall 2.8% issuance decline, according to LSEG Data & Analytics, formerly Refinitiv. Market volatility, higher interest rates,
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Barclays has increased the number of its bankers earning more than €1mn a year by 49, even as the lender cut bonuses on the back of a loss in 2023. The bank, which reported a
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. This article is an on-site version of our Chris Giles on Central Banks newsletter. Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every Tuesday Disappointing US CPI inflation last week finalised
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Bank of England sees “encouraging signs” in important areas of inflation, its governor has said, adding that the bank did not need price growth to hit its 2 per cent target before reducing interest
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Russian politics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Russia has arrested a US-Russian dual citizen on treason charges for allegedly raising funds on behalf of Ukraine’s army. The FSB security service said the unnamed woman lived in Los Angeles and had organised fundraisers
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Because it wasn’t profane or even vivid, the most telling statement Donald Trump has made since leaving office didn’t hold the world’s attention. Asked in a Fox News interview last summer whether he would defend
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Joe Biden raised more than $42mn in January, giving him a record-breaking $130mn war chest ahead of the November US presidential election despite mounting concerns over his age and weak polling numbers. The campaign said
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Monzo is nearing a new round of funding that would value the British digital bank at about £4bn, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign of investor confidence in its expanding business.
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Barclays has announced a plan to return £10bn to shareholders over the next three years and rein in costs as chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan attempts to revive the UK bank’s languishing share price. In a
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Bad commercial real estate loans have overtaken loss reserves at the biggest US banks after a sharp increase in late payments linked to offices, shopping centres and other properties. The average reserves at JPMorgan Chase,