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jason_giordano

Jason Giordano

Director, Fixed Income, Product Management, S&P Dow Jones Indices

Jason Giordano is Director of Fixed Income at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Jason is part of the team that executes tactical and strategic actions in order to bring new fixed income indices to the market based on the needs of existing and prospective clients. Jason has over 20 years of fixed income experience, including roles in marketing, risk management and corporate finance.
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Oct 12, 2023

Seeking Shelter in Short-Term Municipals

As has been the case for most of 2023, markets continue to grapple with the notion of whether the Fed will maintain its plan of “higher for longer.” Last week’s release of strong economic data (improved GDP expectations and strong unemployment) exacerbated selling in longer-dated treasuries, sending yields higher. As a result, U.S. Treasury bonds…

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Sep 22, 2020

Why Reach for Yield When You Can Use a Ladder?

The current low interest rate environment is forcing many investors to reassess their risk tolerances. Typically, fixed income investors have three main options when trying to “reach” for yield: 1. Move down in credit quality (i.e., take on more credit risk); 2. Increase duration (i.e., take on more interest rate risk); or 3. Move to…

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May 14, 2020

Municipal Bonds Are Being Left Behind

Corporate bonds have garnered a lot of attention lately, as the Federal Reserve continues to stabilize markets by establishing multiple facilities that support both the primary and secondary corporate bond markets. As a result, credit spreads have tightened significantly from where they were in March. Since March 23, 2020, the option-adjusted spread on the S&P…

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Mar 25, 2020

Federal Reserve Becomes Buyer of Last Resort

In a previous blog, we discussed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s initial responses to the current market volatility and resultant dislocations. In short, dropping rates to 0% and adding over USD 1 trillion to the funding markets did little to abate the severity of the situation. In an effort to prevent a liquidity crisis from turning…

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Mar 18, 2020

Treasuries Market Flashes Red, Fed Unleashes Tsunami

As global financial markets grapple with assessing the economic impact of COVID-19, U.S. Treasury yields reached unprecedented levels. On March 9, 2020, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond fell to an intra-day low of 0.32%. This was a drop of more than 125 bps from just three weeks earlier. As market participants fled…

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Feb 8, 2018

As Volatility Returns to Equities, Corporate Bond Spreads Tighten Near Record Lows

Broad-based equity markets have been on a rollercoaster ride since Jan. 30, 2018, as market participants appear to be reassessing the impact of inflation and potential consequences from the recent tax reform. While volatility appears to be back, high-grade corporate bond spreads have tightened to levels not seen since 2007. Compared with the last episode…

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Jan 16, 2018

S&P 500 Companies Issued USD 775 Billion of Bonds in 2017

2017 was the sixth consecutive year of record U.S. corporate bond issuances, as companies continued to take advantage of the accommodative environment created by low interest rates and strong investor demand. As measured by the S&P 500® Bond Index, 325 companies came to market for a total of over USD 775 billion in 2017. Approximately…

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Dec 18, 2017

Repricings Remain the Story of the Year for Leveraged Loans

Despite three interest rate hikes, record issuance, and a total market size climbing toward the USD 1 trillion mark, the dominating theme for loans in 2017 has been the massive amount of repricings that have occurred throughout the year. As detailed in an earlier blog post, leveraged loans pay a two-part coupon—a market-driven base rate…

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Oct 31, 2017

As Markets Await Fed Chair Nomination, U.S. Treasury Curve Continues to Flatten

President Trump said he will make an announcement during the week of Oct. 30, 2017, regarding his nomination for who will replace Chairwoman Janet Yellen when her term ends in January 2018.  Most reports suggest current Fed Governor Jerome Powell will get the nod over Stanford University economics Professor John Taylor.  Mr. Taylor could still…

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Oct 17, 2017

U.S. Corporate Debt Issuance on Pace for Record Year

U.S. corporations continue to take advantage of the accommodative conditions created by a protracted period of low interest rates and strong market participant demand.  As of Oct. 1, 2017, U.S. investment-grade corporate debt issuance surpassed USD 1 trillion—three weeks ahead of 2016’s pace.  Additionally, the amount of speculative-grade corporate debt issued through the first three…

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