In the dark days of the financial crisis the Federal Reserve was forced to create more money to aid the American financial system. This was accomplished by crediting money into its own account (yes-out of thin air). The Federal Reserve then purchased financial assets including government and corporate bonds from banks such as Wells Fargo, [...]
One of the non-government organizations I keep tabs on is the Bank of International Settlements (a central bank’s bank) based in Basel, Switzerland (established in 1930). This organization is pivotal to how the Basel Accords are written and monitored by regulators and commercial banks around the world. The most recent accord, Basel II, provides suggestions on banking laws and regulations [...]
When investing in non-US dollar denominated bonds, there are two basic options: developed debt or emerging market debt. Generally only Europe, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have a robust corporate bond market (there are exceptions, of course). Investing in non-US bonds, therefore, from a US perspective, generally focuses on sovereign debt (debt of a foreign government). In 2009 [...]
