Weekly Market Update (5/1/09)‏

HEADLINE NEWS WEEK ENDING 5/1/09

Overview
The US economy shrank at an annual rate of 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009 after contracting at a 6.3% pace in the fourth quarter of 2008. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

US MARKETS
Treasury/Economics
US Treasuries sold-off this week, breaking recent support levels in 10-year and 30-year yields, for several reasons. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Large-Cap Equities
The stock market rallied modestly this week despite fears of a pandemic flu outbreak and the government stress tests. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Corporate Bonds
Investment grade primary activity picked up slightly this week despite nearly a third of companies reporting first quarter earnings. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Mortgage-Backed Securities
A slew of economic reports suggesting a glimmer of hope for financial markets helped mortgages outperform Treasuries. more..http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview.

Municipal Bonds
Build America Bonds (BABs) finished the week tighter in spread to US Treasuries (the difference in yield between BABs and Treasuries) while the broader municipal bond market struggled. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

High-Yield
The high yield market finished April as one of the best performing global assets classes. The broad high yield indices, such as the Merrill Lynch High Yield Constrained Index, were up over 11% for the month, with the lower end of the market rallying most. more...
http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Western European Equities
Stocks in Western Europe gained ground over the past week. The stocks with the best performance were insurances (+10.2%) and banks (+9.6%). more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Eastern European Equities
The CECE index of equities traded in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) gained +3.3% this week, while the Russian stock index RTS went up +0.2%. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Global Bonds and Currencies
Major non-US sovereign bond markets were generally slightly firmer in the past week, although yields remained within their recent ranges in most cases. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

Emerging-Market Bonds
Emerging market dollar-pay debt spreads tightened this week. Credit spreads grinded lower on the back of equity markets maintaining recent gains and further encouraging data releases from the US. more...http://payden.com/library/weeklyMarketUpdateE.aspx#overview

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