The credit-market bears may well be vindicated if the US enters a recession in the next year, but it’s too early to go full-scale Armageddon with predictions about corporate bond spreads. For all the economic headwinds, US corporations started the year from a position of extraordinary financial strength thanks to opportunistic refinancing in 2020 and 2021 and strong cash reserves ...

  The Bank of England recently announced that it would enter the market to buy government bonds (known as gilts) with a remaining maturity of 20 years or more. Although the central bank insists that its actions are “temporary,” to restore “orderly” markets, it’s not really clear what either of those words mean. 1 It was only on Sept. 21 ...

  Those disheartened by the election campaign run by Giorgia Meloni may think that the best thing about Italy’s incoming government will be its likely transience. Hers will be the country’s 70th government since World War II. But it would be wrong to conclude that Italian leaders don’t matter. To the contrary, Europe badly needs a stable Italy capable of ...