Jim Bianco Profile picture
Sep 27, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/7

Today's edition of all is not well in the bond market.

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The Move (the "VIX of the bond market") closed today at 158.12. This is its second highest print in 13 years.

Since 2009, the only day higher was March 9, 2020, arguably the worst market day of the pandemic. Image
2/7

Every time the MOVE gets above 155, the Fed is having emergency meetings (to cut to 0% or print), bailouts are being constructed, and/or bond traders are running around with their hair on fire.

Given this, is it safe to assume all is well this time around?
3/7

Add to the mix that liquidity is worsening, as measured by Bloomberg.

This level of illiquidity occurs when the bond market is dysfunctional. Image
4/7

And BofA's Financial Stress Indicator is getting materially worse by the day.

Again, is/should this be a concern? Image
5/7

As noted above, in the past, when this was the backdrop, the Fed was cutting to zero and printing like mad.

Now, however, we have ongoing QT and the market STILL pricing in a 75 bps hike at the next FOMC meeting (Nov 2). Image
6/7

The bond market is very big, very opaque, and very complicated. This is why it blows up regularly (GFC 2008, repo 2019, COVID 2020, now???). What have been the warning signs trouble is brewing? The tweets above!

The bond market seems to see this, note the blue line! Image
7/7

So I ask again, is this tweet thread a bunch of things that are not concerning this time around? if so, why?

Or does this tweet thread tell us there are big problems under the surface?

Q: Is this why the S&P 500 has been in a relentless decline over the last few weeks?
EVERYONE, PLEASE DISREGARD MY TWEET THREAD ABOVE ABOUT CONCERNS IN THE BOND MARKET.

I JUST LEARNED THAT JANET YELLEN SPOKE EXACTLY ONE HOUR AGO, AND ALL IS WELL, NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

PLEASE CARRY ON

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More from @biancoresearch

May 8
1/9

I've been asked about my stance on yields. Do I still think the 10-year yield is going to 5.00%—5.50%?

Yes

But I also took a neutral stance a few weeks ago.

75% of the move is over.

🧵
2/9

Where did 5.00% - 5.50% come from.

The belief is that the 40-year bond bull market is over (in 2020), and a multi-year bond bear market is continuing.

So, 5.00% - 5.50% is a higher high than the 5% peak of last October, as would be expected in a bear market. Image
3/9

That said, we did move our Index to neutral duration from being short since late last year. 75% of the move is over.

Recall we manage the Bianco Research Total Return Index. The ETF $WTBN tracks our Index (similar to SPY tracks SPX)

Explained here
biancoadvisors.com/may-2024-index…
Read 9 tweets
May 5
1/6

A great piece by @EconTodd and James Carter about how the US Treasury messed up the last 15 years ago. (h/t @judyshel)
---
Rather than issuing 50- or 100-year bonds when interest rates were at rock-bottom, the US Treasury dismissed this option and simply continued to borrow on a short-term basis. Now that US interest payments are ballooning, the scale of this blunder has become apparent, as have the implications for future generations.

project-syndicate.org/commentary/sup…
2/6

This almost triggered me to read as I have been arguing the same thing.
---
April 29, 2012

“I don’t get why the Treasury thinks floaters are a good idea with short-term rates at zero percent, as they only have one way to go, and that’s up,” said James Bianco, president of Bianco Research LLC in Chicago in an interview on April 24.

“They should be lessening the cost of financing the United States government for the taxpayers,” Bianco said. “The Treasury should be issuing 100 year or perpetual bonds until the market can’t stand it anymore to lock in these rates.”

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
3/6

In a 2019 op-ed I wrote for Bloomberg ...
---
For more than 60 years, the Treasury has relied on a select group of primary dealers – currently numbering 24 - who are not only authorized to trade with the Fed, but are also obligated to bid at government debt auctions. That means they are expected to put their own capital at risk and buy the securities issued by the Treasury. This group of dealers accounts for a large chunk of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, or TBAC, which counsels the government on its financing needs.

The Treasury has historically placed a great deal of weight on this group’s recommendations. The TBAC has lately stressed the importance of regular and predictable securities issuance, along with demand for that issuance. When the Treasury brought up the idea of ultra-long bonds in 2017, the TBAC cautioned against the move and pointed to surveys of investors that suggested tepid interest.

bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
Read 6 tweets
May 1
1/6

As this chart shows, the current BTC price is the average purchase price of the Spot BTC ETF buyers. ~$57K to ~$58K Image
2/6

So, about $37 billion in Spot BTC assets (x-GBTC) now have no profits and maybe a small loss. Image
3/6

As I have been detailing, the 13F shows very little institutional buying of these ETFs. 95+% of the buyers are either hedge funds, institutional investors holding less than $100m, or retail degens.

Retail degens dominate.




Read 6 tweets
Apr 28
1/11

The more data we get, the more I worry about the risks involved with Spot ETF.

🧵to update
--
Investment Advisors hold about 35% of all ETFs. However, they hold less than 1% of the new Spot BTC ETF.

"Here come the boomers" was/is a myth.

2/11

Why does this matter?

It confirms my fear that the Spot BTC ETFs are effectively "orange FOMO poker chips" for paper-handed small-time traders (degens).

These degens are getting close to their breakeven, which could turn them in big-time sellers.

Let's dig in.
3/11

A Citi study shows that investment advisors (IAs) hold ~35% of all ETFs. The table shows the 4 largest BTC ETFs. IA's (blue ribbon) hold less than 1% of the New BTC ETFs.

For comparison, see the two popular non-equity ETFs, GLD and TLT. IAs hold 22% of HYG and 40% of TLT. Image
Read 11 tweets
Apr 21
1/6

The deficit as a % of GDP (bottom), now 5.93%, is higher than in any period except the Great Recession (2007 - 2009) and the 2020 COVID shutdown (dotted line).

The government is borrowing to spend money like the economy is trying to recover from a recession. Image
2/6

This separates Federal revenues (orange) and spending (blue).

The difference is the deficit (middle panel).

The bottom panel (black) shows that taxes only cover 73% of federal spending. The other 27% has to be borrowed. Image
3/6

Yearly federal spending is $6.24 trillion or 22.3% of the US economy (or nominal GDP).

Like the deficit chart above, the only time the government has spent this much as a % of GDP is when trying to get the economy out of a recession.

The economy is in year 4 of a recovery.Image
Read 6 tweets
Apr 19
1/7

Happy Bitcoin halving day Degens!

A 🧵on

The flows peaked in a frenzy in Mid-March.

The 13Fs are a disappointment. Very little wealth manager adoption so far (like 1%).

Unrealized gains are shrinking fast.

Why I've been skeptical of Spot BTC ETFs.
2/7

* March 11 = only $1B inflow day.

* March 12 = Brokerage report saying $220B of inflows over the next 3 years (effectively predicting constant inflows, forever).

* March 13, all-time high close (5PM ET price)

Since the mid-March frenzy, inflows peaked (top panel). Image
3/7

The 3/31 13Fs are coming out, and they are disappointing for those who thought a big boomer wave of buying BTC ETFs through wealth managers was underway. Only odd lots.

IBIT has only 27 13Fs with more than 10,000 IBIT shares (~$360k), way less than 1% of outstanding shares. Image
Read 7 tweets

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