Corporate Bonds

Assuming last month's weak employment report is not the start of a trend, the market is still discounting too low a probability that the Fed will lift rates this year. This means the Treasury curve should bear-flatten in the coming months, providing an opportunity to move to above-benchmark duration.

Weak employment will push out the timing of rate hikes to something closer to BCA's view of a September increase. It is also supportive of our asset allocation call two weeks ago to overweight Treasuries.

The Turkish central bank has almost exhausted its foreign exchange reserve. It has been printing money to keep interest rates lower, and sustain the credit boom in the economy. Such policies are unsustainable and the currency will plunge anew. Currency depreciation will push up market-based interest rates. Stay short/underweight Turkish risk assets. A new trade: Short 2-year local currency government bonds.

Both hawks and doves at the Federal Reserve, including Chair Yellen, have stepped up efforts to condition financial markets for a rate hike as early as June.

The latest conclusions from the sector-based (right) way to pick stock markets. Plus some important conclusions for credit markets.

This month's <i>Special Report</i> reviews the literature on equity market timing, and identifies the key indicators that historically have had the best track record. We then aggregate the indicators into an overall scorecard that should prove to be valuable for investors in these volatile times.

A June rate hike is a real possibility, but the Fed still needs evidence that growth is rebounding toward 2% in order to follow through. Whether the next rate hike occurs in June or later this year, a persistent hawkish shift from the Fed will send Treasury yields higher during the next few months.

There is a considerable dichotomy between the EM equity universe and EM corporate credit markets. EM credit markets remain mispriced. EM currencies are at risk of renewed depreciation. This will push sovereign and corporate spreads, as well as high-yielding domestic bond yields, higher. Continue underweighting Indonesian stocks, sovereign credit and domestic bonds within their respective benchmarks.

Within an overweight allocation to Euro Area corporates versus U.S. corporates, favor single-B rated Euro Area High-Yield and Euro Area Investment Grade sectors that offer higher duration-adjusted spreads.

The U.S. dollar has fallen to almost 5% below its 2016 peak. In this <i>Special Report</i> we explore the impact of a weaker dollar on key U.S. fixed income markets.