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High Profile Hedge Fund Blows Up as Bond Market Losses Hit 25 Percent

Levinson’s Graticule Macro Hedge Fund to Shutter After Losses

Bloomberg reports Levinson’s Graticule Macro Hedge Fund to Shutter After Losses

Levinson’s Graticule Asia macro hedge fund has plunged more than 25% this year, mostly during the days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to people with knowledge of the matter. His bets tied to front-end rates imploded and erased years of gains, the people said asking not to be identified because the details are private.

Graticule, based in Singapore, becomes the first known high-profile hedge fund felled by wild swings in bond markets, which were triggered by the SVB’s collapse as traders pulled bets on further rate hikes by central banks. Some of the biggest hedge fund winners of last year from computer-driven hedge funds to money pools run by Rokos Capital Management, Graham Capital Management and Brevan Howard Asset Management have also seen losses.

Expect More Blowups

Not a Zero Sum Game

“There will be many more of these kinds of stories in the days/weeks ahead. The chart will help explain why. The second-highest bond market volatility reading in the last 30+ years (only the week of the TARP bailout was higher) means a lot of bond players are in a “very bad place.” And no, this is not zero-sum. The number of winners from the plunge in rate and big volatility will be much smaller than the number of losers,” says Jim Bianco.

Bond Market Volatility Rises the Most Since the Great Recession

Treasury yield volatility is much worse than during the Covid pandemic. One has to go back to the Great Recession to find worse conditions.

On March 15, 2023, I commented Bond Market Volatility Rises the Most Since the Great Recession

Unprecedented Swings

We have seen wild action in US treasuries in the past week. Traders plowed into leveraged bond shorts expecting more hikes.

Then suddenly we have gone from a 50 basis point hike to none at all for the March 22 FOMC.

Never before have we seen such a amazing swings this close to an FOMC announcement.

The Fed finally convinced everyone that it meant higher for longer, then a few days later people are discussing rate cuts. What a hoot.

Expect some hedge funds to blow up over this bond market volatility.

Well, that did not take long.

Here is the chart of rate hike odds that I posted in the above article.

Target Rate Probabilities for March as of March 15

Chart from CME Fedwatch

Guess what happened as soon as leveraged players were forced out.

Target Rate Probabilities for March as of March 18

Any hedge fund that plowed into the rate cut or no more rate hikes idea is now subject to being carted out. 

What a hoot.

Meanwhile, don’t feel sorry for Levinson. I’m sure he cashed out plenty over the years. And now after shutting down this hedge fund, he is free to start another one. 

This post originated at MishTalk.Com.

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Carl_R
Carl_R
3 years ago
It just goes to show that it’s easy to call yourself a “hedge fund”, but hard to find actual hedged investments that are profitable. A hedged investment is one that takes offsetting positions to minimize or reduce risk so as to provide risk free return. The risk here was clearly not zero, or even close to it.
StukiMoi
StukiMoi
3 years ago
Reply to  Carl_R
Beating the average when picking random numbers is always hard. Hence why it is game played by idiots only. Whether the idiots believe they have magical “systems” for beating the odds at craps tables or public markets, is rather irrelevant.
The reason running a hedge fund isn’t really all that hard over 99% of the time, if one is among the connected classes; which is what one has to be to get through the arbitrary raindances required to both be allowed to open one and to have a circle of immediate associates willing to put sufficient money into it; is the same as it is for the only ones who make money from craps: You are handed a state license to play with an edge, which almost all others are not.
In the casino world, it’s very open. In “finance,” the edge is provided by The Fed, “regulators” and your friends with power to baio you out with money stolen from others. Both amount to 100%, exactly the same.
Hence, most hedge fund managers make lots of money. Occasionally, a tiny, minuscule share of them los a couple of dollars. Just as in the casino world: Far and away most of the connecteds who are handed a license, make money at it. Trump can’t even do that…..
In both cases, the only edge is just an arbitrary privilege handed out by the totalitarian state. Takes no talent, no insight, no understanding and no knowledge. In fact, it takes “anti-knowledge.” As only the truly dumb could ever be counted on to be stupid enough to believe they, of all people, somehow beat random.
worleyeoe
worleyeoe
3 years ago
Great! Keep them coming! The Fed’s actions over the last 14+ years have created this systemic risk.
Plain & simple, the Fed should not be allowed to manipulate the long end of the yield curve beyond 7 years.
And they sure as hell have no business buying MBS. The long-end of the curve should be completely dependent on market forces.
The Treasury never pays off debt, instead just rolling it over to new debt.
Housing is utterly unaffordable for 75% of American’s, and Congress is run by woke politicians & the UNIparty who will trot out rent & mortgage relief at the first sign of rising unemployment.
JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
Mish, might I suggest a separate post about the Wuhan Raccoon Dog? Come on, we really and truly need some laughs around here.
UconJac
UconJac
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
it looks as though the dog genes have won out over the raccoon genes. Much to complacent behavior for a raccoon. Where we live raccoons are plentiful but they are a nasty animal to deal with, on all levels.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Raccoon dogs were bred for herding jackalopes in Eastern Europe.
Wuhan was not involved.
HippyDippy
HippyDippy
3 years ago
Gee, another comparison to the great recession. All these articles are rightly compared to either the Great recession or the Great depression. Every single decision the state makes causes such a comparison to be made. For the slaves so love their misery.
Six000mileyear
Six000mileyear
3 years ago
The 4 year cycle in interest rates has topped. It took about 3 years from trough to peak, so peak to trough should be about a year away (early 2024). Now bonds purchased at face value to rescue/ bail out banks will make up the mark to market losses.
It was a mystery to me why the yield curve was inverted, but it makes perfect sense given the recent banks collapses. During COVID, banks loaded up on long term debt (10 yr US bonds). As inflation kicked in, rates had to rise. Short term debt could be held to maturity by banks and rolled over to prevailing rates without taking mark to market losses. Long term debt could not be sold without huge mark to market losses; therefore, the long end of the yield curve felt less selling pressure. As long as a yield curve inversion exists, there is less capital available for long term lending, so recession happen. Chairman Powell’s mistake was letting bond markets drive interest rates high enough to cause banks huge unrealized losses.
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  Six000mileyear
Interesting, so you think long term bond rates were low not because everyone expected a rate cut, but because holders were not selling.
Probably a combination of the two – obviously some holders have white knuckles hoping for a recession and a rate cut.
Salmo Trutta
Salmo Trutta
3 years ago
Neither a borrower nor a lender be’ is a line uttered by Polonius, a counselor to the King, Claudius, in Act 1 Scene 3 of the play.
And Powell is the steward of bank safety?
8dots
8dots
3 years ago
Yanis Varoufakis was attacked by thugs.
JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
I see that UBS will take over Credit Suisse. This will stabilize things, because CS was full of scandals and badly run, as opposed to UBS which is strong and reliable. Have I reminded anyone here that I am actually the Emperor of Neptune, having arrived 4,162 years ago to observe the culture of your planet?
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb

If you arrived 4000 years ago you are not an observer – would have been long ago assimilated and become one of us. How often do you get back to visit?

JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
Reply to  Jack
If you arrived 4000 years ago you are not an observer – would have been
long ago assimilated and become one of us. How often do you get back to
visit?

You humans have so much to learn. Now, on the home planet, we tell jokes at the expense of Uranus, even though we have no anuses. We expel waste by talking, which is why we are so interested in your leaders. Our funniest jokes are about earthlings. We Neptunians love ironic humor, which is why we have left you alone. We consider earth to be a planet-sized comedy club. As for the other details, we have a saying: “Never complain, never explain.” You probably think England’s monarchy invented that. Uh-uh.

Maximus_Minimus
Maximus_Minimus
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
My theory is that CS was whacked by the tax disclosure agreements forced upon it by revenue agencies in USA and EU. Why would anybody want to keep their account in Switzerland after that if not a rich Arab or Chinese. Then Switzerland hops on the sanction bandwagon and you have trickle, then turrent of withdrawals. Much safer to keep money in Singapore.
I am sure that just a conspiracy theory, which will be debunked by an investigative journalist.
FromBrussels2
FromBrussels2
3 years ago
Absolutely right , Chinese have been withdrawing loads of money from Switzerland, since it became just another woke, increasingly unreliable US vasal state….
8dots
8dots
3 years ago
Those who like to take risk can change the world. Shi might broker appease agreement between Putin and Zelenski. He takes a huge personal risk. If fail, he might hit a bridge and die in flames.
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  8dots
He could also fall out of a window while in Moscow. I would be careful as windows are shown to be not strong in Russia.
FromBrussels2
FromBrussels2
3 years ago
Reply to  Jack
Sure ‘Jack’ , or should I say rrm ….well, you know ….regardless your avatar, no matter how hard you try, your identity always comes shining through….don’t it ?
Zardoz
Zardoz
3 years ago
Reply to  FromBrussels2
He’s me. We all are. We follow you from site to site at the bidding of the fbi! We want to steal your potato!
Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab
3 years ago
Reply to  8dots
There are ‘statesmen’, ‘wannabe statesmen’, and Bidum
JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
Okay, kids, Trump’s going to be arrested next week. I couldn’t possibly care less about the pros and cons of Trump. To me, that argument is entirely and tragically beside the point. I think the arrest itself (whether legally justifiable or not), and especially its timing, has nothing whatsoever to do with Trump or his actions. It’s a shiny object, a diversion. Children, while everyone’s in full argument, other and far more important things will be happening. Pay no attention to that man in front of the curtain. This will be historic, but not in the way the media will tell you.

Oh, and covid was caused by the Wuhan Raccoon Dog. The media are taking this seriously. Okay? The Wuhan Raccoon Dog.

Naphtali
Naphtali
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Trump’s arrest should have been better coordinated with the gun control efforts. Sigh.
1-shot
1-shot
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Google it. There really is such a thing and theyre from China!!!!
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  1-shot
I googled it upon hearing about this new a couple days ago – raccoon dogs are invading eastern Europe and killing all the indigenous birds.
JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
Reply to  Jack
You really want to believe that? Take a look, then please laugh not just at the story but at yourself.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/please-stop-raccoon-dogs

Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Seriously, raccoon dogs have become a problem.
They were introduced into eastern Europe and are widespread in parts of Europe, where they are considered an invasive species.
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Seriously, they were introduced to Eastern Europe for their fur and are now endemic and considered an invasive species.
hmk
hmk
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Third world tactics.Weaponising the judicial system against opponents. If paying hush money to prostitutes or mistresses is illegal our entire political class should be in jail. Why isn’t the extortionate prostitute being prosecuted. I am not a Trump fan but this is outrageous and should concern everyone. We are circling this drain.
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  hmk
Trump is old news. Yawn. He is just another loud old man who plays golf. Lots of them around. Yawn.
hmk
hmk
3 years ago
Reply to  Jack
That has nothing to do with the corruption of the judicial system. The government is counting on their good little sheep going along .
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  hmk
Yawn
JackWebb
JackWebb
3 years ago
Reply to  hmk
You really don’t get it. Trump’s forthcoming indictment and arrest has absolutely, positively nothing to do with Trump. It is a shiny object meant to distract everyone. Fools will argue about it. Smart people will ignore that man in front of the curtain and look for the real news. If it goes down on Tuesday as Trump has predicted, it’s going to be an interesting week in the Chinese curse sense. May we live in interesting times.
BDR45
BDR45
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
In my opinion, you are absolutely correct. Our irredeemably corrupt government throws distractions at us almost daily.
Jack
Jack
3 years ago
Reply to  JackWebb
Especially after a few weeks ago the conclusion was it was a lab leak. The origins of COVID was quiet for 3 years – now 2 new “conclusions”. We need North Korea back in the news.
8dots
8dots
3 years ago
The biggest loser of SVB bank BK might be US gov itself. Foreign and domestic entities which supported US debt got hurt. UST10Y minus DET10Y have a Lazer tilting down. This chart look like WTIC before popping up. Buyer strike ==> higher rates. TNX might be in accumulation. Aug 3 2020
low to Nov 29 2021 close.
Zardoz
Zardoz
3 years ago

Tis but a scratch!

Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
3 years ago
Reply to  Zardoz
I’ve had worse.
Dean2020
Dean2020
3 years ago
Bought 1-yr brokered CDs yesterday at 5.35%. Check out FDIC brokered CD rates for smaller institutions. Their rates are rising since risk is rising. Seems like a no-brainer if you’re sitting on cash.
Aaron
Aaron
3 years ago
Reply to  Dean2020
Thanks for sharing! I had to go 18 months to get that rate last week (CHARLES SCHWAB BK SSB WESTLAKE CD 5.35000%), but this is a great, FDIC insured way to park cash in the short term.
Quick note to all CD buyers, the initial CD is FDIC insured, but if you buy a previously issued CD’s (Fidelity & other trading platforms allow this) it is no longer FDIC insured.

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