April 2014 Investors pushed bond prices marginally higher in April with the yield-to-maturity of the 10-year Treasury falling 6 basis points, and the 2-year Treasury essentially unchanged for the month. Any suspicion that the economic slowdown witnessed earlier this year was anything more than weather-related was dispelled with the release of the employment report for […]
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March 2014 In last month’s update we speculated that the message from the Federal Reserve could soon become less accommodative as the new central bankers came to terms with the substantial liquidity sloshing through the financial system. Just a week after publication, the Fed’s message took a decided turn at Chair Yellen’s first post-FOMC press […]
Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management, said the growth potential for biotechs remained promising but the sector had become expensive. “In terms of investment stories, it’s good for investors but prices have run up so much that I think we are seeing some aggressive traders pushing it around.” Asia and Europe feel the pain […]
“We are at a very late stage in the high-yield rally,” says Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management. “But people chasing yields look at how well these bonds did in the last couple of years and assume they can replicate that.” Junk bond investors dig deep for value
“A strong jobs number should see the S&P 500 push through 1,900 as the data will force the doubters off the sidelines and back into stocks,” said Michael Kastner, principal at Halyard Asset Management. “If we get a weaker number the market will reset a little lower and wait for further data.” US equity bulls […]
Corporate Profit Growth Fuels Shareholder Returns through Dividends and Repurchases Share repurchases by S&P 500 companies increased 19% in 2013 – with a total of $129.4 billion executed in the fourth quarter. This was a 1% increase compared to the 3rd quarter and when combined with quarterly dividends, represents the second highest quarter of dollars […]
“We have to see an uptick in economic activity,” says Steven Boyd, principal at Halyard Asset Management, who thinks bond yields are too low. “I think we will see a bounce back in the economy. If we don’t, then the bond market will be proven right.” Neck-and-neck rally for US stocks and bonds
“If we see the economy bounce back and grow near 3 per cent, the S&P can rise further,” said Steven Boyd, principal at Halyard Asset Management. He said the greater use of margin debt was a sign of confidence that the recent soft tone in data are attributable to cold weather and that pent up […]
February 2014 Unlike the wild swings witnessed in January, capital markets were relatively calm in February with the yield of the 10-year and 30-year Treasury securities effectively unchanged for the month. Similarly, equities reversed the selloff suffered in January and early February, ultimately posting a year to date total return of 0.94% through the end […]