DoubleLine’s Jeff Mayberry and Eric Dhall review the market week (1:00) ended Feb. 9, 2024, including a new all-time high carrying the S&P 500 to close above 5000 for the first time, yields up across the investment grade segments of the fixed income universe and a higher week for the Bloomberg Commodity Index, although accompanied by a decline in industrial metals. Macro news for the week (4:39) includes a strong ISM Services report but in general tighter financial conditions indicated in the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey of Bank Lending Practices. For their Topic of the Week (11:21), Jeff and Eric discuss the U.S. Treasury’s quarterly refunding announcement in the context of an explosion of the national debt to $34.2 trillion – a pace of debt growth that on Feb. 7 drew a warning from the Congressional Budget Office. Falling Treasury purchases by foreign governments, Jeff Maberry notes, means yield-sensitive investors such as insurers account for a larger share of Uncle Sam’s creditors. Their bond vigilantism means more upward pressure on interest rates. Looking ahead to the week of Feb. 12-16, Jeff and Eric single out (21:27) above all the January print of consumer price index, due Tuesday Feb. 13. They will also be on the lookout for retail sales, import prices and jobless claims (Thursday) and housing starts and the January producer price index (Friday).
Mr. Mayberry joined DoubleLine in 2009. He is a Portfolio Manager on DoubleLine’s strategic commodity strategy while working in portfolio management and trading for derivatives‐based and multi‐asset strategies. Mr. Mayberry is a Strategist on the Fixed Income Asset Allocation Committee and a contributing member on our Global Asset Allocation and Macro committees. He also co-hosts DoubleLine’s weekly Monday Morning Minutes (Twitter @DLineMinutes, Minutes@Doubleline.com) podcast. Prior to DoubleLine, Mr. Mayberry was a Senior Vice President at TCW for nine years within the Mortgage Group, where he specialized in portfolio and fund monitoring and analytics. He holds a B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and an M.S. in Financial Engineering from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Mr. Lau joined DoubleLine in 2009. He is a Strategist on the Fixed Income Asset Allocation (FIAA) Committee and a contributing member on the Global Asset Allocation and Macro Committees. Mr. Lau is a Portfolio Manager on DoubleLine’s strategic commodity strategy while working in portfolio management and trading for derivatives-based and multi-asset strategies, including DoubleLine's Shiller Enhanced CAPE®, Shiller Enhanced International CAPE®, Real Estate and Income, and Multi-Asset Trend strategies. He also co-hosts the Sherman Show (Twitter @ShermanShowPod, ShermanShow@Doubleline.com) and Monday Morning Minutes (Twitter @DLineMinutes, Minutes@Doubleline.com) podcasts. Prior to DoubleLine, Mr. Lau was a Vice President at TCW where he worked under Jeffrey Gundlach as a Research Analyst in the Mortgage Group. He holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
