Derivs - Credit

Fitch Solutions has expanded its credit default swaps pricing service to CDS derived bid-offer spreads and CDS benchmark curves.

Société Générale is recommending buying credit default swaps on Marathon Oil Co. (MRO) and selling CDS on Hess Corp to take advantage of a tightening of credit spreads between the two.

Schroders has expanded its fixed-income team with the hiring of Alix Stewart and Konstantin Leidman.

BlackRock favors electronic trading models that use requests for quotes for trading derivatives, rather than central limit order book models, because there is currently greater access to liquidity.

JP Morgan has lost over USD2 billion since April 1 because of credit default swap positions taken by the firm’s London chief investment office.

All the talk in the markets in the run-up to Sunday’s elections was that the French vote would be pivotal for risk appetite and it is not hard to see why.

JP Morgan Chase has been hit by $2 billion in trading losses and could face an additional $1 billion loss, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in a conference call after U.S. markets closed today.

Department of Labor rules regarding prohibited transactions and fiduciary obligations will make it tough for swap dealers to clear over-the-counter swaps for pension plans under Dodd-Frank if guidance or exemptions are not provided. Implementation is slated for November and DoL often acts with glacial speed, which has the industry very concerned.

Markit and Creditex, a subsidiary of the central counterparty IntercontinentalExchange, announced that the two firms will conduct a credit event auction on Sino-Forest Corp. tomorrow, the first such auction to be held in Asia ex-Japan.

Noteholders in the German residential mortgage-backed security E-MAC DE 2005-I will have to deliver the put option notice by May 14 in order to receive their redemption by May 25.

Deutsche Bank is advising investors to sell three-month at-the-money forward U.S. dollar/Russian ruble puts versus buying 3-month 1% out-of-the-money forward USD/Mexican peso puts.

Société Générale is advocating compression plays by buying credit default swaps on Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) against Anadarko Petroleum, Nexen Inc., Talisman Energy, Hess Corp. and Marathon Oil Company.