Fixed income

It’s a mistake for investors to be focusing on fixed income, according to Joseph L. Hooley, chief executive officer of Boston-based State Street Corp.

Federal Reserve policy makers were briefed last month on the potential for establishing an additional tool to aid them when they eventually seek to lift interest rates and tighten monetary policy.

Treasury 10-year note yields approached the highest level in two years before the Federal Reserve releases minutes of its July meeting that may contain signals on when policy makers plan to curtail monetary stimulus.

With the recent increase in interest rates, the de minimis risk grows for municipal bond investors.

The letter, signed last month by 19 Senate Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the party, urged Obama to nominate Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen to succeed Ben S. Bernanke.

Institutional investors' allocations to dollar-denominated bonds have dropped to the lowest level since 2007 as strategists at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. see a shift away from the debt that may fuel higher borrowing costs.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will issue two concept releases next month, one seeking public comment on whether to develop a best execution rule and another requesting input on enhancing post-trade data reporting and developing standards for collecting and disseminating pre-trade information.

Vanguard’s exchange-traded funds continue to increase in popularity among investors in the United States, the company has reported.

The Treasury Department said it expects to borrow $209 billion in the third quarter and end with a $95 billion cash balance.

A federal funds rate stuck near zero means cash will continue to deliver negative real returns for some time. Who in their right mind, the standard Wall Street taunt goes, would own cash when it’s a guaranteed losing proposition?

Many large managers of municipal bond funds with Detroit paper said they haven't heard any panic from their investing clients since the city filed for bankruptcy and many of their funds have lost value.

Detroit’s bankruptcy filing means it’s time for advisors to reassess their holdings, says Warren Pierson, lead manager of Baird’s intermediate-term municipal bond fund, but not to over-react to what is sure to be a panicked client base.

Heavy outflows, at $1.56 billion, endure for municipal bond mutual funds as investor demand for tax-exempts continues to flag.

Municipal bond mutual funds continue to hemorrhage money as investor demand remains low.

Inflows to long-term mutual funds were $1.28 billion for the eight-day period ending Wednesday, July 10, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Pimco’s Bill Gross added to holdings of Treasuries in his flagship fund in June while betting incorrectly on gains in U.S. inflation- indexed securities during the first half of the year.

Bond funds netted redemptions of $59 billion (excluding exchange-traded funds) last month, according to Strategic Insight.

Morgan Stanley managing director Patrick Haskell has been appointed head of the institutional municipal business, the company announced this week. Haskell will oversee public finance and sales and trading in his new role.

U.S. fixed-income mutual funds attracted investor deposits last week, rebounding from redemptions spurred by speculation that the Federal Reserve would scale back its unprecedented stimulus, while bond exchange-traded funds had withdrawals.

Municipal bond fund outflows for the week of July 10 rose to $1.2 billion from $870 million the prior week.