HIX News and Press, Western Asset High Income Fund II Inc. From 01/14/20

By Kevin Flanagan, Head of Fixed Income Strategy and Josh Shapiro, CFA, Quantitative Strategist Our base case is that the credit cycle will not turn in 2020. Investors will likely continue to seek income in higher-yielding fixed income assets. An important topic in credit strategy resear...

Unlike the days of the gold standard, it is impossible for the Federal Reserve to go bankrupt; it holds the legal monopoly of counterfeiting (of creating money out of thin air) in the entire country. - Murray Rothbard First it was a game, a wonderful game, but just a game. Then, as fic...

You Can't Fight the Central Banks "Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws." - Mayer Amschel Rothschild When I was growing up in Kansas City, Missouri I often heard the expression that "You can't fight City Hall." This comment was based upon the o...

Author's note : This article was released to CEF/ETF Income Laboratory members on December 4, 2019. Please check latest data before making investment decisions. Chemist's "High-High-Low" Closed-End Fund Report Quantitative screens help to rapidly narrow down attractive candidates fr...

By Patricia Healy, CFA This commentary continues the discussion on key themes of the year, many long-term in nature, & reveal the need for govts & businesses to adapt. Pensions, budgets, state ratings, climate adaptation, cybersecurity, and investing This fourth-quarter com...

Introduction The closed-end funds from the high-yield sector significantly increased their prices over the past months. Currently, most of them are traded at positive Z-scores, which is an indication that they have lost most of their statistical edge. Still, they are traded at high discoun...

Although risk-free yields have nudged up a bit after seven years of Fed ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) from 2008 to 2015, the desirability of investment grade or bank insured yield vehicles remains muted. Indeed, with the 10-year Treasury continuing to sit sub-two percent and the Fed easing ...

Rick Rieder and Russ Brownback argue that contrary to the many year-end outlooks foreseeing either a recession or a rebound in 2020, the most likely path for the economy and markets is more moderate, which can be encapsulated in their theme of "1.8." In the season of proliferating 2020 out...

Introduction The closed-end funds from the high-yield sector significantly increased their prices over the past months. Currently, most of them are traded at positive Z-scores, which is an indication that they have lost most of their statistical edge. Still, they are traded at high discoun...

By Tracy Chen, CFA, CAIA In part one , we provided an in-depth analysis of CLO tranches, including the factors driving their spreads. While each tranche has been influenced by varying forces, we noted the fundamentals for the overall market have deteriorated, particularly relative to high...