Today we updated our online database of upcoming municipal bond auctions. The latest calendar includes more than $20 billion in upcoming municipal bond auctions spread over 47 states. These include a $1.4 billion offering from the State of Illinois, a $1.4 billion offering from the Los Angeles Unified School District,  and a $700 million offering [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: General, Municipal Bonds
Posted on February 16th, 2010 by Bob Brinker

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke provided the following statement to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services this morning.
 

 
In our view, the notable points from the statement  are:

Most of the emergency credit facilities have been closed
The amount of credit extended has declined more than 90% from $1.5 trillion to $110 billion. [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: Federal Reserve, General, U.S. Treasury
Posted on February 10th, 2010 by Bob Brinker

For conservative investors, now is about the most difficult time ever to earn a safe return on your cash. Short-term Treasuries offer almost no return. Savings accounts, Money Markets, even CDs are offering extremely low rates. Many investors will receive monthly statements showing a 0% return for their money market account in January and a [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: CDs, General, Money Markets, U.S. Savings Bonds, U.S. Treasury
Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Bob Brinker

The February 2010 edition of the Brinker Fixed Income Advisor is online at www.BrinkerAdvisor.com. This month we review our credit market indicators.
Our 2009 Model Portfolio performance: Aggressive Portfolio + 33% Moderate Portfolio + 20% Conservative Portfolio + 14% Tax-Exempt Portfolio + 13% **this [...]

Comments Off | Filed under: General
Posted on February 1st, 2010 by Bob Brinker