Financial Times – 9/5/13
“Verizon will be an enormous deal and has the potential to destabilise the market or be the catalyst for a rebound in corporate bond sentiment,” says Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management.
Financial Times – 6/11/13
“No one wants to own Tips and the lack of Fed talk as yields have risen suggests they are letting the market feel its way,” said Michael Kastner, managing principal at Halyard Asset Management.
Financial Times – 6/7/13
“We are definitely worried that the market is in a cycle where selling of bonds begets more selling,” said Steven Boyd, principal at Halyard Asset Management.
The hefty outflows illustrate the anxiety of investors ahead of the May employment report due on Friday. The Federal Reserve has indicated that its suppression of interest rates under quantitative easing depends on the tone of economic data, led by the monthly jobs figures.
“‘The jobs report will be a harbinger for how bonds trade during the rest of the month,” said Mr Boyd.
Financial Times – 5/31/13
“No one likes to see equities close at their low on a Friday as it sets the market up for an ugly open the following week,” said Michael Kastner, managing principal at Halyard Asset Management, adding that short sellers in the Treasury market were closing positions later in the day.
Financial Times – 5/23/13
“Volatility is here for a while and will rise further,” said Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management. “It’s clear that Bernanke wants to prepare markets for less stimulus. Stocks look expensive and a correction would be healthy.”
The Guardian – 4/30/13
Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset management in New York said bond buyers were usually wary of buying debt from companies seeking to buy back shares but that because Apple was sitting on so much cash, this was likely to be a very popular sale.
Kastner said it was part of a larger trend as corporations seek to take advantage of historically low interest rates. “Companies are borrowing cheap and buying back shares and in the process improving their earnings per share. We saw this in the last low interest rate cycle, but never to this degree,” he said.
Kastner said that the corporations were likely to continue turning to the bond market to raise cash for as long as the Federal Reserve keeps rates low.
Apple bond sale attracts wide response as CEO looks to appease shareholders
Financial Times – 5/01/13
“Corporations are really coming out of the woodwork after earnings season to sell debt and buy back stock,” says Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management.
Financial Times – 4/30/13
“As a bond investor you don’t want to buy debt which is being used to fund share buybacks, but in the case of Apple, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the size of their overall cash holdings,” said Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management.
Financial Times – 03-19-13
Michael Kastner, a principal at Halyard Asset Management, said US Treasury yields look vulnerable if economic data surprises positively.
“Traders and real money investors are looking to lessen their interest rate sensitivity, and are looking at floating rate notes and short dated bonds,” he said.
Euroinvestor – 2/13/13
“If we focus back on the sequester, we could actually see yields fall a little more before getting to higher levels,” said Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management.
Mediocre Sale Sets Treasurys Back for Third-Straight Session