HIX News and Press, Western Asset High Income Fund II Inc. From 02/05/20

Introduction The past week was very interesting in every aspect. The prices of the main benchmark of the high-yield bonds and the closed-end funds which invest in high-yield bonds were very volatile compared to their usual behavior. The week started with a sell-off after coronavirus fears ...

A cornoavirus pandemic would be more of a "black swan" than the global financial crisis, says Moody's Chief Economist John Lonski . And while policymakers could flood the world with freshly minted cash to combat the financial crisis, Lonski isn't sure what tools they would have to deal with...

(This report was published to members of Yield Hunting on Jan. 12. All data herein is from that date. This is a rare posting of our weekly commentary with a two-week lag). Macro Picture The conflict in the Middle East appears to be subsiding, allowing the volatility index to retreat b...

Note : data from the report are taken from the close of December 27, 2019. Chemist's "High-High-Low" Closed-End Fund Report Quantitative screens help to rapidly narrow down attractive candidates from the database of 500+ closed-end funds [CEFs] for further due diligence and investigation....

By Sheila Amoroso, Senior Vice President, Director, Municipal Bond Department, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group; Daniel Workman, CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group; Francisco Rivera, Vice President, Municipal Bond Department, Franklin Templeton ...

As investors shift to "risk off", they pulled almost $1.4B from the biggest junk bond ETF on Friday, Bloomberg reports. More news on: iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF, BlackRock Corporate High Yield Fund, Inc, News on ETFs, Read...

Credit markets have rallied significantly over the past few years, with spreads over Treasuries in the U.S., for example, dwindling to very tight levels alongside decreasing yields. At the same time, many investors have raised concerns over credit market volatility, liquidity, potential overva...

Introduction The past week was relatively calm and uneventful for the high-yield bonds and the closed-end funds which invest in this type of asset. The economy continues to be strong and the data from the past week proved it. The housing starts jumped to a 13-year high and retail sales...

By Matthew Sheridan The era of low yields and the investment challenges they bring isn't likely to end soon. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and slowing global growth will contribute to persistently low and negative yields in 2020 . A global slowdown could leave the world even more vulnerab...

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...