The Cool Kids Don't Like Bonds Anymore

On Wednesday, I posted a chart of US Treasury Yields asking the question Yield Curve: Where To From Here? Extreme Complacency in Face of Bernanke Shift. Today's focus is on municipal bonds, but first let's take a look at a chart from the above link. Treasury Yield Curve

Marc Chandler submits:The US dollar is mixed at the start of the new week. The absence of London markets is serving to dampen turnover. The reluctance of the Bank of Japan to get ahead of market expectations saw the yen recover smartly after the greenback neared JPY86. Initial support for the dollar near JPY84.50 is likely to be tested shortly. For its part, the euro has been confined to its pre-weekend range. Three times in as many sessions, the euro was turned back from approaching $1.2780.

Morgan Stanley interest rate strategist Anton Heese's latest note to clients comes with an ominous warning in title: "There's a Storm Coming."

IT WAS just a brutal day on European markets, and Spain and Italy found themselves squarely in the crosshairs. Italian and Spanish equities were down over 4% and nearly 6% respectively. Yields on 10-year Spanish debt touched a new crisis high and 2-year debt yields rose over 11%. Italy's long-term yield rose back above 6%. The euro continued its swoon.

Canada’s dollar declined to a two- week low versus its U.S. counterpart as concern increased that the world’s 11th-largest economy is slowing. The currency weakened versus the majority of its most-traded peers after data on Feb. 8 showed employment unexpectedly fell, the nation had its ninth straight monthly trade deficit and housing starts sank to the lowest since 2009. The loonie also fell as commodities and global stocks sank amid ebbing risk appetite.