The Democratic Party and its supporters have indicated a willingness to enact legislation that will reduce demand for bonds, while increasing supply: a recipe for lower bond prices and higher yields. There are few signs that the weakened Republican Party, now in the minority, will put up effective resistance. Here are some signs, portents, and expectations: Increased […]

On November 15, 2006, in the back pages of the Wall Street Journal, an article, “San Diego Settles SEC Charges Over Pension Funds”, starts out: San Diego agreed to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to tell municipal bond investors about the city’s mounting pension-fund obligations and its increasing inability to […]

According to a US Bureau of Economic Analysis release of July 12, 2006, the US trade deficit leveled off during 2006, with a difference between imports and exports of goods and services of $63.8 billion in May 2006. Since the trade deficit is a major source of funds for the US bond market, a slowing of […]