Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- As far as the world's biggest bond investors are concerned, the Federal Reserve is failing to restore confidence in the U.S. credit markets.
Pacific Investment Management Co., TIAA-CREF and Insight Investment Management say the central bank's decision to lower the overnight lending rate between banks by half a percentage point last month won't prevent the economy from slowing or corporate defaults from increasing. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. strategists say last month's rally in high-yield corporate bonds, the biggest since 2003, may fizzle by year-end.
While indexes of derivatives that measure the risk of default show increasing investor confidence, the difference between the interest that banks and the U.S. government pay for three-month loans is wider now than a month ago. That's a sign the Fed's Sept. 18 rate decision has yet to persuade bondholders that lower borrowing costs will stop ``disruptions in financial markets'' from hurting the economy.
``The reality is the fundamentals haven't gotten any better, and, if anything, they've gotten worse,'' said Mark Kiesel, an executive vice president at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco who oversees $85 billion in corporate bonds.About three-quarters of 30 fund managers who oversee $1.25 trillion expect a hedge fund or credit market blowup in the ``near future,'' according to a survey by Jersey City, New Jersey-based research firm Ried, Thunberg & Co. dated Oct. 1.Goldman's Outlook
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Sept. 27 that there is an almost even chance the economy will fall into its first recession in six years. New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's most profitable securities firm, reduced its estimate of economic growth in 2008 last week by about a third, to 1.8 percent from 2.6 percent, because of fallout from the worst housing slump in at least 16 years.
``I'm still bearish,'' said Alex Moss, a senior credit analyst at Insight, a London-based money manager with $94 billion of fixed-income assets. ``I can't see any real excuse to get involved in this market.''
More than 3 percent of company bonds were distressed in September, triple the amount in July, Standard & Poor's said in a report last week. Bonds are considered distressed when they yield at least 10 percentage points more than comparable- maturity Treasuries. Moody's Investors Service forecasts the U.S. default rate will more than double to 4 percent in the next year. New York-based S&P and Moody's are the largest credit- rating companies.
Sales of new homes tumbled 8.3 percent in August to the lowest in more than seven years and house prices dropped the most in four decades, the Commerce Department in Washington said last week. Consumer confidence fell to the lowest in almost two years in September, according to the Conference Board's index of confidence.
``The big picture is you're going to have a consumer that is going to be pulling back significantly,'' Pimco's Kiesel said. ``The rate cuts by the Fed are unlikely to save housing.'' ....... Lehman Adds Risk
Lehman, whose fixed-income research team has been top- ranked in Institutional Investor magazine's annual survey for eight straight years, told investors last week to buy more junk bonds, with the caveat that gains may be over by year-end. The firm also has increased its recommendations on investment-grade and emerging-market debt.
``We've increased markedly our exposure to risky assets and we think a lot of the sell-off is over,'' said Joseph Di Censo, a fixed-income strategist at Lehman in New York. ``We will see a rally in the spread sectors that were the most beat up.''
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday that the worst of the global credit slump may be almost over because banks are starting to buy lower-rated assets with longer maturities. The difference between the dollar London interbank offered rate, which banks use to lend to each other, and the three-month Treasury bill yield shows a different view. The so-called TED- spread has climbed to 1.33 percentage points from 1 percentage point on Aug. 27.....
Sales of collateralized debt obligations, the biggest buyers of corporate loans in the first half, fell 54 percent in August to $17 billion from July, the lowest in more than a year, according to Morgan Stanley. ....The U.S. commercial paper market is shrinking. The amount of debt outstanding that matures in 270 days or less fell $13.6 billion the week ended Sept. 26 to a seasonally adjusted $1.86 trillion, according to the Fed. It's down 17 percent in the past seven weeks.
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