Basis Points

Basis Points

By Basis Points by WisdomTree Asset ManagementBusiness
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Basis Points episodes

  • The One Common Denominator: Fed Policy
    With Election Day over, there’s another force in Washington, DC, to be ever mindful of in bond land: the Federal Reserve. On this week’s podcast, Kevin Flanagan discusses monetary policy, the one common denominator regardless of the election outcome.
    4 min
  • “Deficit Discipline” Is So Yesterday
    The pandemic and related economic shutdowns required unprecedented fiscal action, but even before 2020, expanding U.S. budget deficits had become the norm. With fiscal year 2020 now officially in the books, Kevin Flanagan discusses how things fared.
    6 min
  • Does a “Blue Wave” = Higher Rates?
    One potential outcome of the 2020 Election is a Democrat sweep, or the “blue wave,” whereby the presidency and both houses of Congress would be controlled by the Democratic Party. On this week’s podcast, Kevin Flanagan provides a solution for investors seeking to prepare their fixed income portfolio for the possibility of the “blue wave.”
    5 min
  • U.S. High-Yield Default Rates Double…Quality Matters
    While March seems like a long time ago, the repercussions of perhaps the worst two-week period in the U.S. high-yield (HY) arena is now showing through some five to six months later. Despite this, Kevin Flanagan makes the case there is relative value in the U.S. HY market, as long as you screen for quality.
    5 min
  • Riddle Me This: What Looks Like a “V” but Feels Like a “U”?
    After the end of 2019, the U.S. economy went straight into negative territory, as the pandemic-related shutdowns produced unprecedented contractions in activity. Most market participants have been of the mindset that the economy would not return to pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2021. On this week’s podcast, Kevin Flanagan discusses whether the economy can recover sooner than expected.
    6 min
  • Fed Watch: ‘New’ Policy Framework, Batteries Not Included
    The Federal Reserve released its new policy framework late last month in connection with Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, so, unsurprisingly, the September FOMC meeting did not generate any fresh headlines. But there is one key question following today’s Fed meeting that Kevin Flanagan seeks to answer: how will the Fed actually implement this new approach?
    5 min
  • What Goes Up Has Definitely Been Coming Down
    The headlines surrounding the August Employment Situation report seemed to focus on the moderating pace of new hiring activity. On this week’s podcast, Kevin Flanagan explains why he believes the more notable story was the sizeable drop in the unemployment rate and the impact on the fixed income market.
    6 min
  • Fed’s Gonna Let the Economy Run “Hot, Hot, Hot”
    At last week’s Jackson Hole conference, Chairman Powell announced a noteworthy shift in how monetary policy is now going to be delivered. On this week’s podcast, Kevin Flanagan explains the Fed’s decision to let the economy run “hot, hot, hot” to achieve its average inflation goal over time.
    5 min

About Basis Points

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As part of WisdomTree’s Investment Strategy group, Kevin serves as Head of Fixed Income Strategy. In this role, he contributes to the asset allocation team, writes fixed income-related content and travels with the sales team, conducting client-facing meetings and providing expertise on WisdomTree’s existing and future bond ETFs. In addition, Kevin works closely with the fixed income team. Prior to joining WisdomTree, Kevin spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was most recently a Managing Director. He was responsible for tactical and strategic recommendations and created asset allocation models for fixed income securities. He was a contributor to the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Global Investment Committee, primary author of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s monthly and weekly fixed income publications, and collaborated with the firm’s Research and Consulting Group Divisions to build ETF and fund manager asset allocation models. Kevin has an MBA from Pace University’s Lubin Graduate School of Business, and a B.S in Finance from Fairfield University.