FICC Focus

“Where your capital is going to create value, that’s the area we want to focus on the most. So today we see a lot of that in telecom broadly defined data-center digital-infrastructure financing,” says John Cocke, Partner and Deputy Chief Investment Officer of credit for alternative asset management firm Corbin Capital Partners, discussing opportunities in the credit markets. Cocke joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Stephen Flynn on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about Corbin’s involvement in a broad range of fixed-income products, including high yield bonds, leveraged loans, mortgage-backed securities, private credit and litigation finance. 

The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Renewed US-China trade tensions, the impact of tariffs on rare-earth minerals and the growing uncertainty facing markets are among the topics discussed in this episode of Macro Matters, part of Bloomberg Intelligence’s FICC Focus series. Host Ira Jersey, BI’s chief interest rate strategist, speaks with Ben Emons, founder and CIO of Fed Watch Advisors, about how these developments could influence inflation, unemployment and the Federal Reserve’s rate decisions. They also examine gold’s surge, global spillovers and what lies ahead for Fed policy and leadership.

The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

“If I were a lender, I would sign a coop with everyone — or mostly everyone — the day after the loan closes, and then just let it sit there.” That’s Douglas Mintz’s solution to the damaging frenzy that often erupts when word spreads that creditors are organizing ahead of a potential liability management exercise. In a conversation with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Negisa Balluku, Mintz, who is a partner in Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s Financial Restructuring practice and a member of the firm’s Special Situations team, discusses the dynamics between majority and minority creditors, examining how recent rulings in ConvergeOne, Incora and American Tire Distributors are shaping creditor strategies. Prior to that, BI’s Phil Brendel and Stephen Flynn examine the current state of the communications sector, which houses the largest share of distressed-debt supply. The podcast concludes with a roundtable discussion on First Brands, Spirit Airlines, New Fortress Energy and Telesat.

Gold isn’t showing signs of true dollar debasement, if it were, there would be an even more severe market reaction, says Merk Investments co-founder and CIO Axel Merk on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series. Merk joins host and Bloomberg Intelligence Head of US Rates Strategy Ira Jersey to discuss the reason gold has been climbing rapidly in recent weeks. Merk thinks the gold rally is due to speculators, central-bank and institutional buying, while he outlines how retail investors seem to have been sellers. Good management among gold producers is key for adding value when investing in the precious-metals sector. The two discuss the shifting relationship of real yields and gold performance.

The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Credit and high yield had a good 2025, despite tariffs and rates volatility as spreads held ground. Will 4Q sustain this resilience and why? Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence global head of credit strategy, discusses the results of the BI 4Q25 High Yield Investor Survey, along with the market outlook, with Alexis Renault, global head of high yield at Oddo BHF. They discuss the French fiscal problems and trade war's impact on credit, potential ECB action in a sovereign crisis along with distress and default rates. The podcast also covers investor positioning, sentiment, key return drivers, supply forecasts and relative value across asset classes (high grade vs. junk), geography (Europe vs. US), ratings and sectors.

Credit Crunch is part of BI’s FICC Focus series. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

There are some interesting developments in equity volatility which have trading implications from the pronounced spread between VIX and SPX realized volatility, low stock correlation, rise of single stock volatility and the shape of the VIX curve. In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI's Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu is joined by Chris Murphy, Co-Head Derivative Strategy at Susquehanna, to discuss equity volatility and flows.Register for the 2nd Annual Volatility Forum in New York, October 28 at Bloomberg's headquarters.

Register here: https://go.bloomberg.com/attend/invite/bi-vol-forum-2025/

Asset-backed securities issuance remains slightly behind the same period in 2024, even with Tricolor-related angst continuing, notes Bloomberg Intelligence ABS Strategist Rod Chadehumbe on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series. Chadehumbe and Bloomberg Intelligence Head of US Rates Strategy Ira Jersey discuss Tricolor’s effect on the ABS market, how the consumer is driving issuance, recent trends in subprime credit-card and auto-ABS delinquencies, and his outlook for spreads.

The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series

The unexpected election of the LDP’s Sanae Takaichi and her known bias for expansionary fiscal policies is questioning the yen’s bull case and the currency’s sharp and broad selloff since the Oct. 4 result is a taste of what could come. For now, we don’t have enough information to assess how or when fiscal stimulus will eventually unfold, so it’s premature to call a sustainably bearish view until the fiscal prospects can be quantified. 

In this episode of FX Moment, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief FX Strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Jordan Rochester, head of FICC strategy for EMEA at Mizuho Bank, discuss Japanese fiscal and monetary-policy dynamics and the potentially binary yen implications. Jordan and Audrey also discuss the dollar and the euro’s near-term political predicament. 

This episode was recorded on Oct. 8. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Institutional appetite for high-beta asset classes continues to endure yet traditional safe havens are not behaving as they should. Fabio Natalucci, CEO of the Andersen Institute for Finance & Economics, joins Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Emerging Market Fixed Income Strategist Damian Sassower to discuss investor positioning and risk sentiment ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s 2025 Annual Meetings. Natalucci and Sassower touch on issues ranging from global trade and geopolitics to term premia expansion and AI-related capital expenditure.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Federal Reserve moving away from the federal funds rate as the policy target would be welcome, said Meghan Swiber, senior US rates strategist at Bank of America Securities on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series. Swiber and Bloomberg Intelligence Head of US Rates Strategy Ira Jersey also discuss BofA’s views on the yield curve, Treasury issuance and Federal Reserve policy.

The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.