Definitely not A... Certainly a bit of B. Surely not C, unless your fingers are of no use to you. Also quite a bit of "D. none of the above".Quote from dhpar:
i am puzzled by one thing. maybe some guys here can help me out.
swap spreads on 30 years are negative - what does it mean?
A. too much cash in the system + too much credit risk in the system which does not allow to arb this away (ctpy risk on the swap)?
B. treasury credit/default risk is viewed as larger than that of banks?
C. arb opportunity?
it is interesting to note that on 5 year the swap spread is relatively normal by historical standards while on 10 year it is very tight (while still positive).
Quote from Martinghoul:
Definitely not A... Certainly a bit of B. Surely not C, unless your fingers are of no use to you. Also quite a bit of "D. none of the above".
My opinion...
Quote from dhpar:
i am puzzled by one thing. maybe some guys here can help me out.
swap spreads on 30 years are negative - what does it mean?
A. too much cash in the system + too much credit risk in the system which does not allow to arb this away (ctpy risk on the swap)?
B. treasury credit/default risk is viewed as larger than that of banks?
C. arb opportunity?
it is interesting to note that on 5 year the swap spread is relatively normal by historical standards while on 10 year it is very tight (while still positive).
Quote from Martinghoul:
Yes, the PRDC story is one of the contributors to increased demand for swaps. However, to be fair, effects such as this should be relatively short-lived.
The more I think about it, the more it fundamentally makes sense, though. Most of the members of the LIBOR basket are supranational banks. Moreover, it's been shown that they are backstopped by the US govt. Long-dated swaps should trade through treasuries; that's what TBTF is all about.