Baker Market Update

[Last]
Monday's bond rally that saw Ten Year Treasury Notes trade as low as 1.39%
shows that blistering temperatures and withering droughts are not the only
things setting records this summer. While the American corn crop may be dying
on the vine... well, stalk, that's still not as bad as the news out of Europe.
At [last] week's outset, market participants were greeted with renewed and
heightened fears about Greece's solvency along with renewed and heightened
fears about the efficacy of the planned bailout of Spanish banks. With those
circumstances adding to the renewed and heightened fears about a possible
crumbling of E.U. unity, that adds up to a lot of scared money looking for a safe
place to hide. The United States wasn't the only refuge from risk as record low
yields were also seen in Germany, the United Kingdom, and of course, Norway.

In an early morning release [Friday], the first estimate of Q2 GDP came in
slightly to the upside of expectations at a 1.5% quarterly growth rate. Along
with that, the Q1 growth rate was revised up slightly to 2.0% from the
previously announced 1.9%... Read more in the Baker Market Update.