Category: bonds

Global Bond Market Volatility Intensifies, From Treasury Buybacks to UK Gilt Intervention

The market for global bonds historically has been safe and subdued. However, in 2022, the international bond market has turned extremely volatile, with the selloff resulting in trillions of dollars’ worth of losses. From U.S. Treasurys to UK gilts, many advanced economies have been affected by the chaos unfolding in the industry. US Treasury Buybacks…


Bank of England Doubles Bond Buying Limit

The Bank of England (BoE) will double the amount of government bonds it can buy daily before the buy-back programme ends on Friday, the central bank said on Monday. Between Monday and Friday, the bank will offer to buy up to £10 billion ($11 billion) of gilts per day, up from the previous limit of £5…


Alternatives to Annuities

You may be attracted to the idea of receiving a lifelong income after retirement. Unfortunately, pensions are disappearing. Only 31 percent of Americans currently retire with defined benefit pension plans. While 84 percent of people receive Social Security Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits, it was never intended to be their sole source…


Ask Kip: Answers to Frequently Asked I Bond Questions

By Lisa Gerstner From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Q: I see that U.S. Series I Savings Bonds are currently paying a rate of paying 9.62 percent. How is the interest rate determined? A: The composite rate has two parts: a fixed rate, which remains the same for the life of the bond, and an inflation rate,…


What’s Behind the Current Market Crash

News Analysis The first half of 2022 has seen financial market carnage of historic proportions, from stocks to bonds and even cryptocurrencies. Analysts say the rout is part of the process of markets assessing how severe the next recession will be, along with the reckoning that central banks no longer have the markets’ back.  “There’s…


Hong Kong to Facilitate MPF Investments in Chinese Debts as Foreign Investors Leave

Hong Kong recently approved a legislative amendment clearing the way for the city to invest its residents’ pension fund in debt securities issued or guaranteed by Beijing. The move comes when foreign investors are ditching Chinese debt at a record pace. Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) is a compulsory pension scheme designed to provide retirement savings…


Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate, Gold, Crypto: How to Choose

You’ve made a decision and are going to start saving some of your income. Perhaps you have picked a number already—twenty percent of your funds will be invested. You are determined to honor this personal commitment all the way to your retirement. In past generations, people would simply put their savings in a bank account,…


China Spent More on Mass COVID-19 Testing Than on Its Military: Research

Recent research results from China’s financial securities firms show that the cost of the Chinese regime’s mass COVID-19 nucleic acid testing exceeded its military spending in 2021, and that it will drain China’s national medical insurance funds within three and a half years if citizens are tested every two days as required by the regime….


Investors, Heed the Fed’s Warning

Commentary For investors, the answer is always stocks. The only question, is, which stocks. As the major U.S. stock indices head into a Bear market, professional money managers are telling their clients that the problem with their portfolio is they now have the wrong stocks. Stocks are not always the best answer for most investors,…


China Sees the Greatest Capital Outflows on Record, Says IIF

Capital outflows from China in the first quarter were the largest on record, a new report (pdf) from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) found. According to data compiled by the IIF, foreign investors sold Chinese equities and bonds, with local currency bonds representing a majority of the outflows. The world’s second-largest economy witnessed inflows,…