NEW YORK (Reuters) – A pension fund has initiated a class action lawsuit against a group of the world’s largest banks, accusing them of “conspiring” to scuttle competition in the $27 trillion credit default swap (CDS) market, in turn raising fund managers’ costs.

The case, filed on Friday in the district court in the Northern District of Illinois, is the first antitrust case relating to the banks that dominate the credit derivative market.

NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) – A hunt for higher yields by
risk averse investors is helping spark a resurgence in funds
that can invest more broadly and take bigger risks than strictly
regulated money market funds.

The growth in these so-called cash funds, however, is
worrying for some who see it as another symptom that the Federal
Reserve’s ultra loose monetary policy is bringing on another
broad credit boom that could end badly for borrowers, lenders
and investors.

NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) – Old grudges can die hard,
particularly in the world of derivatives trading and brokerage.
A judgment delivered by the New York Supreme Court this week
showed that sometimes they can also be costly.

The New York Supreme Court in Manhattan decided late on
Wednesday that two former employees of New York-based
brokerages, Wesley Wang and Jason Horowitz, must pay former
colleagues James Cawley and Brady Halper and their former firm,
credit derivatives brokerage IDX Capital, $8.25 million for
interfering with a deal to sell IDX to equity brokerage Knight
Capital Group.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The death knell for the bond market has been sounded repeatedly as the stock market rallies, but investments in fixed income could be much more “sticky” and less likely to cross into equities than people think.

Investors hoping for more gains in stocks are calling for a secular shift of trillions of dollars out of debt and cash holdings and into stocks, arguing that debt offers too little return for mounting interest rate risks.

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) – The death knell for the bond
market has been sounded repeatedly as the stock market rallies,
but investments in fixed income could be much more “sticky” and
less likely to cross into equities than people think.

Investors hoping for more gains in stocks are calling for a
secular shift of trillions of dollars out of debt and cash
holdings and into stocks, arguing that debt offers too little
return for mounting interest rate risks.

NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The amount of bonds Wall Street
dealers are borrowing from the U.S. Federal Reserve surged in
the past two weeks due to a scarcity of certain Treasuries
issues in the repurchase agreement market.

The scramble came after large lenders of the securities
moved to the sidelines, as they were being paid less due to a
dramatic drop in yields earned on lending bonds in the repo
market.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Squabbling in Washington over the debt ceiling is again raising the specter that the United States may be forced to delay payments on its debt. While the stigma of a default would be damaging enough to investor sentiment, the chaos from a breakdown in financial markets’ systems that might result would be even scarier.

A failure to make payments on U.S. Treasuries, however brief, would create widespread damage in short-term funding markets, which are crucial to daily operations of financial institutions, investment firms and many corporations, said analysts and investors.

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Squabbling in Washington over
the debt ceiling is again raising the specter that the United
States may be forced to delay payments on its debt. While the
stigma of a default would be damaging enough to investor
sentiment, the chaos from a breakdown in financial markets’
systems that might result would be even scarier.

A failure to make payments on U.S. Treasuries, however
brief, would create widespread damage in short-term funding
markets, which are crucial to daily operations of financial
institutions, investment firms and many corporations, said
analysts and investors.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some fixed income investors are getting nervous that the United States may have to delay debt payments due in February and March, as negotiations in Washington over how to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling again look likely to drag out until the last minute.

The U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday it was temporarily tapping the retirement funds of government workers to avoid hitting the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. It has said it can only stave off default through such extraordinary measures until around mid-February to early March.

NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries prices gained
in choppy trading on Friday as investors struggled to find a new
range for the debt, weighing a brighter economy against
impending Washington budget battles.

Yields have largely stabilized after jumping last week on
hints of growing unease within the Federal Reserve on the bank’s
asset-buying program.