Wall Street, ny
January 2009

CREDIT MARKETS

Treasuries:
Treasury prices headed higher Friday, led by gains in short-term debt, after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy lost 524,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate rose to the highest since 1993. The number of jobs lost in 2008 to 2.589 million, the most since 1945. Yields on five-year Treasuries dropped the most this year, during a week when the government sold $46 billion of three and 10 year notes. Declines in U.S. stocks also spurred safe-haven buying, leading investors toward government debt. Longer-dated maturities have also been under pressure as investors follow the Federal Reserve in buying mortgage-backed securities. U.S. corporations sold $41 billion in debt this week, the most in almost eight months, as companies took advantage of investor demand to raise cash in a weakening economy. The economic calendar has PPI and CPI next week.

Municipals:
New York and Washington states led borrowers last week, who sold $4.5 billion of debt, feeding demand for higher-yielding alternatives to U.S. Treasuries with the most municipal bond offerings in four weeks, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Bond Buyer 20, a weekly index of yields on benchmark 20-year general obligation securities, slid to 5.02 percent. Individual, or retail, holders and mutual funds reinvested Jan. 1 bond payments as Obama said the federal government would help states “avoid harmful budget cuts “historically high” relative yields and “attractive price appreciation potential. ESDC was very pleased with the level of participation from mutual funds. The secondary market was fairly light. I was in touch with NYS EFC 5% 6/33 ata 99-99.375. I was posted on NYC 5% 6/21 @ 4.65, FL St BOE 4.5% 6/25 @ 4.78.
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Commentary/New Issues

Corporate:
Nothing

ABS:
Nothing

Agency:
Nothing

New Issues larger than $250mm. The fixed income offerings mentioned above are for informational purposes only. Toussaint Capital Partners, LLC, member NASD/SIPC, and/or its affiliates may be a participant in the offerin mentioned and therefore offerings will be subject to availability.
All statistical data is sourced from Bloomberg Financial Markets