In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. COVID-19 has altered how we need to look at the credit cycle in the future. We’ll tell you how.
2. If you don’t think Bitcoin is relevant to credit markets, you’ll want to pay attention to something we discovered this week.
3. One credit asset class taking off is investment funds issuing bonds. We’ll talk to an active participant in the space to explain why.

In this week's episode, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. The era of big government is back! This actually has a big impact on default rates. We’ll tell you how.
2. We’ve updated our key themes in credit. Unlike the Fed’s statement, you won’t need to perform forensic analysis on our key takeaways.
3. In this historically low-yielding environment, investors are increasingly getting out of their comfort zone in search of yield. We’ll tell you where.

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. Economic Slack—Our index of the U-6 underemployment rate and excess industrial capacity tells us that there is plenty of slack in the economy, giving comfort that inflation fears are overblown.
2. Big Bank Earnings—Our economic canaries in the coal mine. Q1 earnings’ actions and commentary suggest nearly all is well in commercial and consumer loan risk.
3. Consumer Confidence—The latest report from the University of Michigan reminds us that the pandemic and rising cost of living are weighing on the U.S. consumer.

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:

1. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause is yet another data point that suggests that pandemic risk is not yet in the rearview mirror
2. The economic boom is coming—retail sales’ blowout, the latest high-frequency data gathered by the New York Fed, and the big drop in jobless claims suggest the boom is here, and
3. The rise in commodities prices is being felt by manufacturers the world over as the reopening takes root; Materials producers are the beneficiary, and strong earnings growth is likely

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. BP is but the latest multinational that is attempting to change its stripes to become more bondholder-friendly.
2. The ISM’s latest PMI releases for both manufacturing and services are pointing to a recovery that is looking like it might be a bit unruly, and
3. Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders is an upbeat near-term view, but a rather sobering one taking stock of America’s future.

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. The failure of Archegos and its ripple effects through risk markets. We’ll tell you what is worth worrying about…and what is not.
2. Economically, the “calm before the surge” is transitioning to just the surge—fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be quite a ride.
3. The economic fortunes of the US and Europe are diverging. Will it last?

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
1. The Fed has joined other prognosticators in materially improving its U.S. economic forecast. Peel off the stimulus effect and prepare to be underwhelmed
2. China’s influence on the global economy, and credit markets, is multi-faceted and it continues to grow
3. KBRA Altman, a division of KBRA Analytics, has released a one-year forward, Corporate Default Forecasting Model, and our initial outcome is yet another remarkable datapoint in the COVID-19 saga

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
- The cost of just about everything manufacturers need is jumping as the economy roars back to life. Beware of margin compression over the next couple of quarters.
- The CEO of General Electric “turned the lights out” on GE Capital this week. There are important lessons learned from this saga, we’ll elaborate.
- The American Rescue Plan is here. We’ll sort through the hype and tell you what it means for creditors.

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses:
• Citadel is the latest nonbank financial to access the investment-grade capital markets.
• The pandemic has pushed what was the investor’s single largest concern—rising geopolitical risk—to the back seat. It’s rising again. Don’t lose sight of it.
• Few in markets seem to be worried about the health crisis going sideways. Two experts think you should. We’ll tell you what they have to say.

In this week's episode of 3 Things in Credit, KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser discusses: The noise around rising rates has become deafening, but the credit story remains sound; The loan market has proven to be a port in the rising rate storm; The Fed acknowledges excesses and vulnerabilities in the financial system, away from banks.