Perspectives from our Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Group
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As 2025 draws to a close, we revisit a key theme that will remain important in 2026, namely the shifting relationship between the federal government and municipal issuers.
While long credit spreads are tight, yields remain compelling, and we believe there is still substantial value to be unlocked in long-duration bonds.
Market Views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities (GFICC) group
Recent headlines surrounding corporate credit stress, particularly involving companies like First Brands and Tricolor, coupled with soured commercial loans among US regional banks Zions and Western Alliance, have drawn investor attention and raised questions about whether there are broader systemic risks akin to historic periods of credit stress. We provide our perspective on credit risk in today’s markets, separating signal from noise.
How changing demand dynamics are driving gold’s resurgent shine
As investors turn their attention to Election Day and Zohran Mamdani tops the polls, we continue to field questions about what a democratic socialist mayor might mean for the future of New York City. We discussed in a previous post, but expand on some of the City’s core strengths and take a closer look at Mamdani’s platform.
In light of the ongoing government shutdown, we assess the possible impact on public finance.
FOMC Statement: September 18, 2025 Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. rates team.
Market Views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities (GFICC) group
The Great Housing Imbalance: Understanding America's Supply-Demand Gap
Free buses, childcare and rent freeze - Zohran Mamdani's primary win raises questions about NYC's financial future amid ambitious proposals, but a strong institutional framework and a resilient economic base sustain the city’s credit quality.
Of the sweeping changes introduced by the federal budget, entitlement and tax reforms stand out in the municipal market. Credit selection remains key as pressures mount, although delayed implementation provides some runway.
In this blog, we recap the economic developments of the Chinese economy in the first half of the year (H1) and look ahead to the second half (H2) of 2025 regarding supporting pillars and policy arrangement.
The securitized asset class, once overshadowed by the global financial crisis, has evolved with regulatory improvements and may offer diversification benefits and counter-cyclical performance, making it a potentially valuable addition to portfolios with varying risk/return objectives.
Market Views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities (GFICC) group
“Now let's get this thing on the hump — we got some flyin' to do.” (Major T. J. "King" Kong in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)
On the heels of Moody’s rating downgrade of US Treasuries and continuing budget negotiations in the US Congress, higher uncertainty has resulted in a re-pricing of term premium in the bond market.
Weekly Cross Market Meeting Notes: Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC)
The Asia region is an important production hub of global semiconductors and its peripheral products, accounting for more than 50% of global markets share, with South Korea, Taiwan and Mainland China leading in production and innovation. In this blog, we explore the semiconductor landscape in Asia and assess the macro implications for the Asia technology (tech) cycle.
Weekly Cross Market Meeting Notes: Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC)
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. rates team.
Weekly Cross Market Meeting Notes: Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC)
In this blog, we discuss the fiscal package for 2025 against rising AI (artificial intelligence) and accelerated tariffs and assess the corresponding economic impact.
The situation around the consumer continues to be complex, with K-shaped outcomes persisting, necessitating rigorous and disciplined security selection in consumer credit investments.
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. rates team.
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. rates team.
Potential reform of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) could have significant implications for investors, taxpayers, and the broader housing market.
In this blog, we discuss our GDP forecast for 2025 and China’s policy responses to trade war 2.0.
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. rates team.
Emerging market companies adapt to thrive
Next week, the BRICS nations are meeting to further discuss how to reduce their reliance on the US dollar. What are the potential implications for the global currency landscape?
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income Currency & Commodities (GFICC) U.S. Rates team.
Bob Michele, the global Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities group, discusses the extraordinary monetary and fiscal response to COVID-19 across the world.
The agency CMBS market offers an attractive way for fixed income investors to access one of the more resilient sectors of the commercial real estate market.
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
The ‘Blue wave’ the market had prepared for now appears to be more of a ‘Blue ripple’ and currency markets are adjusting to a different political outlook.
With the influx of green, social and sustainable credit issuance this year, we take a closer look at whether these bonds present good value.
Emerging Markets Local Currency debt emerged as one of our best ideas at our most recent investment quarterly meeting. This isn't just about the US Dollar; we like what we see in local EM.
At our recent IQ meeting, we concluded municipal high yield was one of our best ideas. In this piece we take a deep dive into one of the more opportunistic sectors in the tax-exempt market.
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
The opportunity cost of not investing in EM debt remains very high. Most importantly the same applies for the rest of fixed income: don’t fight the central banks.
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
In response to Europe’s biggest growth shock in a generation the EU council agreed on the outline of the “Recovery Fund” to help cushion the economic fallout from the pandemic.
The global savings glut has been driving asset price valuations for the last decade or so. Emerging Markets and investors need to prepare for a potential new world.
A Democratic sweep of the elections in November could usher in more than just higher taxes.
Recent headlines have compared today’s CLO market to the subprime mortgage market of old; we do not believe CLOs pose system risks to the financial system.
While China’s post-Covid-19 economic data is showing signs of normalization, the government’s focus on stability will have significant implications for monetary policy and interest rates
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
Investors fled emerging markets ahead of the pandemic, but are now slowly returning. We expect a gradual economic recovery to continue to support returns, and seek to rotate into select beta.
Top of mind insights from our Global CIO
Now that the US has entered the beginning stages of the reopening process, we discuss the speed in which the US economy can rebound with a focus on systemically important States and politics.
COVID-19 uncertainties abound. With the help of the team, Andrew tries to tease out a macro view through answering vexing questions.
Next week the Treasury will re-introduce 20-year bond issuance as they look to manage increasing borrowing needs and capitalize on growing demand for long bonds by LDI investors.
Liquidity provision doesn’t remedy a weak outlook for corporate fundamentals. Thoughtful sector and security selection is needed to navigate the minefield ahead.
We expect bond markets to remain sanguine about the shift to unprecedented monetary financing until there are signs that the economy is emerging from the downturn.
Following the Fed's announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
The bond market isn’t dead, but to deliver a reasonable return we need to balance the safety of co-investment alongside central banks with the opportunistic hunt for higher yield and return.
EM valuations reflect much of the outlook ahead, but the uncertain COVID-19 impact remains a downside risk. As such, we remain defensive, favoring EM investment-grade credit.
With the appearance of COVID-19 and the extreme market sell-off in risky assets, in the space of 3 months investors have aggressively been buying money market funds.
The Peoples Bank of China recent policy actions help address the concerns that its policy response was lagging the aggressive actions taken by other central banks.
The last four weeks have created deep value and at current levels EM IG offers an attractive alternative with less credit risk and the prospect of double-digit returns.
Given the dramatic shift in the global economic outlook as a result of COVID-19, US inflation will slow but the market may be too pessimistic.
As the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act emerged from on high in the Senate, it became clear to me what this meant for fixed income investors.
As all asset classes have repriced over the past few weeks, the Global High Yield Team believes looking at leveraged credit valuations in the context of historical bear markets can provide actionable insights for investors.
The bond market was broken, but policy makers and market leaders worked around the globe to fix the system.
Market functionality needs to be restored no matter how anyone feels about the methods it may take to get there. If the current market conditions persist, the consequences may be severe.
Volatility across markets has created considerable anxiety amongst investors trying to gauge the effectiveness of global response from healthcare, monetary and fiscal policy. Given how varied the responses are, this may be an unsolvable riddle over the near term
With markets down across the globe, we are writing to tell you that EMD has not delivered a homogenous drawdown. Instead, there has been a resilience in our arena that is worthy of comment.
The Fed’s emergency cut significantly increased the odds of returning to the zero-lower bound in 2020.
We’ve seen Fed rate cuts before, during the 2008 crisis—this one removes a question mark for the economy. Now small businesses also need support.
While no one knows for certain what 2020 or 2022 will bring to the White House and the Fed, staffing changes and increasing political pressure within the Fed is a near-certainty.
The Singapore Dollar is no longer defying gravity – we discuss why and the implications for cash investors.
We assess the key macro risks investors should be thinking about in 2020 and their potential impact on global bond portfolios.
With the ECB quickly running out of tools and inflation still some way from their current target, the market will be keen to hear what comes next.
Bubble alert? Not so fast, mortgage credit availability has slowly emerged from extinction. Read our insights on the current evolution of the mortgage market.
The taxable municipal market is expected to see a spike in supply and more diversified issuance. We explore the potential opportunity for investors.
Our team puts forth predictions around fixed income market returns, Treasury yields, gold and the U.S. presidential elections.
We present our bond market awards for 2019 - including central banker of the year, villain in a leading role, rookie of the year, MVP, lifetime achievement award and more.
We look at why the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) made its recent and notable dovish pivot and its implications for investors
Following the Fed’s announcement, find our latest market views from the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Team (GFICC).
In our view, emerging markets debt deserves the positive attention it has been receiving in an era of central bank interference and global hunt for yield.
We think the Fed’s actions have assuaged some concerns about short-term funding but risks still remain.
When constantly watching financial markets and following the 24-7 news flow, it can be easy to get caught up in the trees and miss the forest.
Chinese property is one of the largest sectors in the Asia high yield bond universe, and is often considered as one of the “safer” sectors by investors.
Following the Fed's recent announcement to cut rates, we discuss our views on the meeting and our outlook on monetary policy.
Clients look to income focused strategies to meet their objectives, but traditional metrics of risk may not be appropriate for income focused strategies.
Record low bond yields pose a major problem for fixed income investors. We explore why taking active FX risk can be a solution for investors.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its overnight rate to a new record low - leaving the RBA in uncharted territory.
It seems the global financial system has gone crazy as rates continue to fall further negative. We review why and the impacts it has on the market.
I explain why a whatever-it-takes policy approach is not a silver bullet and will eventually lead to pain.
In a world where real yield is increasingly scarce, it is our view, emerging markets debt deserves a larger role in a global fixed income portfolio.
We analyze which economic indicators the Fed should pay attention to and which ones are false alarms.
ECB governors are agreement that it's time for fiscal policy to now take the baton from monetary policy as the main instrument to stimulate the economy.
We review July's ECB monetary policy and determine the impacts on the ECB and the Eurozone.
Why is the stock market at near all-time highs, while the bond market is signaling recession?
Even as markets price in recession risk, we look at how the technicals in the high yield market is as important as solid fundamentals in the short term.
EM Central Banks have a relatively high beta to Fed policy rates. We believe EM Central Banks will deliver a significant cutting cycle across most countries.
Looking beyond the disappointing press conference, we believe the FOMC is employing a proactive risk management approach as opposed to a reactionary policy.
The central banks must take the lead, and it must start this month. They must bring front end real yields so low, so fast that the yield curve steepens.
If central bankers can engineer another dovish course correction which prolongs the global economic expansion in real terms, it will be a job well done.
We see many different narratives driving markets, and we address the impact of a binary change in the short-term outlook for growth and financial asset prices.
What seemed like unconventional and bizarre monetary policies in the immediate post-crisis world, have come to look generally accepted, if not pedestrian.
President Trump has been presented with the opportunity to make a profound impact on the Federal Reserve.
Why is everyone is talking about Modern Monetary Theory?
The market got a dose of what no-QT feels like, but now in March, the reality of $50 billion per month of liquidity withdrawal is likely to return.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can summarize the past year in markets with a pretty tight fit to almost two complete cycles through the Three Phases.
Our team puts forth predictions around the yield curve, US high yield returns, 10-year Treasuries, the US dollar and oil.
We highlight our awards—including corporate bond of the year, currency of the year, comeback player of the year, unsung hero, MVP and more.
According to the roadmap I’ve described all year, a dovish lean into tight financial conditions should be cause for a significant relief rally in risk assets.
ESG is all the rage. We take a quantitative approach to determine which ESG factors/risks should be incorporated in a manager’s investment processes.
We recap macro and policy evolution, and then shoehorn it into the Three Phases Model to get a near-term outlook for further market performance.
Intuition, math, the increase in Treasury supply from the budget deficit and Quantitative Tightening, it feels weird that Treasury yields aren’t higher.
A lot has happened since my last dispatch on the Three Phases Model. I’ll detail where I think we are in its evolution.
We take a in-depth look at the leverage loan market.
The Fed’s interest on excess reserves (IOER) shot to prominence following an unprecedented adjustment by the central bank. We explore its impact on investors.
We look at three charts which are seemingly unrelated, but we think each represent early signs of the impact of US monetary tightening.
Japan suffers from labor shortages and the working population is no longer growing. So how is it possible the economy just added the most number of jobs on record?
We focused on global central banks’ withdrawal of liquidity as the primary market driver. Now, we look more closely at USD liquidity from an offshore perspective.
Realized volatility in all asset prices should continue to be elevated as markets adjust in fits and starts to the new reality of liquidity removal.
We review how the inclusion of China onshore government bonds in the Global Aggregate Index impacts the market.
When an economy reaches full employment, productivity growth must then also occur to lift potential, otherwise inflation pressure builds. Where are we now?
We outline the key risk scenarios for bond portfolios in 2018.
Making market prognostications is always a tricky business, but we frame the debate in 3 phases, with Phase 1 an uncomfortable time.
From bond of the year to most valuable player to comeback player of the year, we've presented our bond market awards for 2017.
We still believe the flow of central bank balance sheet expansion is still the dominant force driving markets, both risk markets as well as interest rates.
Here we take a closer look the Fed’s balance sheet activity to show the interactions, and take a view on how QT unfolds.
Here we discuss what R-star or the real neutral rate of interest is and how it affects central banks and their ability to determine and explain policy.
We revisit a different structural reform proposal and expand on it with three key charts from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Neither economic data nor the chaotic news cycle is the dominant force driving stock prices right now, it’s the flow of quantitative easing.
The Fed has tightened policy rates four times now, and financial conditions have gotten incrementally easier/looser each time. How should we interpret this?
We examine how anticipated economic momentum over the near term is likely necessary to sustain the narrative, in effect to avoid the decay.
My optimism at the opportunity presented to the new President has given way to more skepticism. Here are the positives and negatives.
We share a short note to highlight one fascinating chart that in our view encapsulates the macro narrative thematically all by itself.
The consequences of the Border Tax seem skewed toward a mixture of known and unknown negatives, with what looks to me like only dubious potential benefits.
My optimism at the opportunity presented to the new President has given way to more skepticism. Here are the positives and negatives.
Part II of the Border Tax gives an update on the deep policy discussion brewing at the intersection of corporate tax reform and US trade policy.
There is a deep policy discussion brewing at the intersection of corporate tax reform and US trade policy. Here are two important points.
There are generally four components to financial conditions analysis. Learn how each in isolation influences the economy in different ways.
Bob Michele, Managing Director, is the Chief Investment Officer and Head of the Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities (GFICC) group.
