H2Uh-Oh: The Thames Water Saga
It is difficult to open a newspaper recently and not find an article about the much-maligned situation at Thames Water. The company are unlikely to be the next sponsors of the Oxford Rowing crew to be sure. However, it is worth pointing out the back story, how we got here, and explore potential outcomes:
Honey, I shrunk the banks. The case for bank credit over equity
It’s been a really great couple of years for the banking sector – after a decade or more of zero interest policy when every year that went by bank margins fell, suddenly banks have lots of margin to play with as interest rates have risen to more normalised levels.
It’s bond trading, but not as we know it Jim…
If someone had told me the US government would have been denying the shooting down of extra- terrestrials at the start of the year, I would have laughed at them in disbelief!
That’s Asda price
You can almost hear the gasps of those who have recently looked to refinance their mortgages, shocked about the increase in monthly payments they are having to make.
I’m getting 5, 6, 7% in fixed income, at my age I don’t need much else
Somebody said this to me recently and it got me thinking. What is the age of the typical investor and what exactly are they looking for?
A less stressful time
Last week saw the release of the long-awaited bank stress tests for the UK banking system. This is the first ‘normal’ test following the Covid pandemic and the delay caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Cash is still king
This time last year I wrote about the short end of the yield curve – those fixed income securities with short maturities and reduced price risk from movements in interest rates because of their very short duration.
Raising the debt ceiling has implications for financial markets
With a tentative deal being reached on raising the US borrowing limit and saving the country from catastrophic default, Simon Prior looks at the close relationship between dollar liquidity and financial markets
AT1: The regulator has your back
According to Bloomberg yesterday, the European Banking Authority has been holding talks on ways to boost investor interest in the AT1 market after Switzerland’s shock decision to wipe out $17bn of Credit Suisse notes.
UniCredit to Early Redeem EU1.25bn AT1 Subordinated Notes
This is the headline we were greeted with this morning. In the first potential, optional redemption of an AT1 bond since the UBS purchase of Credit Suisse, UniCredit has elected to redeem or “call” its AT1 at the first call date.
