Entering April, the fixed income allocation strategy continued to favor risk-on leadership but did not rebalance. The model remained overweight Emerging Market bonds, U.S. High Yield, U.S. Investment Grade Corporate, and U.S. Mortgage-Backed Securities. U.S. Long-Term Treasurys is marketweight. The model remained underweight U.S. Floating Rate Notes, U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, and International Investment Grade.

Click the link below to read more about the strategy’s positioning.

Full strategy commentary: NDRFIAS202404041

Other posts

USDJPY and Gamma Trading (29th July 2024)

BY JON WEBB
In our piece in February (Turning Japanese, Feb 2024) we discussed how carry trades in currencies have a predisposition to trade an “escalator / liftshaft” pattern. The Japanese Yen, as the principal funding currency, is particularly vulnerable to violent reversals to what has been a remarkably steady and successful carry trade. In the last couple of weeks, as analysts started to consider the possibility of a BoJ rate hike at their meeting on 31st July, JPY crosses exhibited a bout of significant strength. USDJPY fell around 10 big figures from ~162 to 152. Is that enough to have cleared the decks? Simply put, it is not possible to clear out two years of accumulated positions in a couple of weeks. The fact that CFTC commitment of trader positioning was showing JPY shorts at their most extended since 2007 (pre GFC) before last week’s sharpish position reduction, suggests this is merely a shot across the bows, so far. Japanese retail traders (Mrs Watanabe) have slowed accumulation to a stand still but wholesale flight is far from evident. Read more →

NDR Fixed Income Allocation Strategy December 2024 Update

BY BRIAN SANBORN
The NDR Fixed Income Allocation Strategy, Positioning Update Read more →

Thoughts From The Divide: Danger to Itself

BY JON WEBB
In an op-ed for MSNBC, the “former Federal Reserve economist” warned against the Fed keeping “interest rates too high for too long”, which would cause it to “fail at its job” and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Sahm argues that the economy is “on course” for a soft landing, but “Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is not flying the plane, despite the popular narrative” (which is a far kinder metaphor than Jay being a toddler in the back seat with a toy steering wheel). Sahm suggests that “giving the Fed credit means we could learn the wrong lesson”. Read more →
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