Fed Is All In! But Why Is The Fed Buying/Holding AAPL And MSFT Corporate Debt With Soaring FANG Index? (FX Swaps Holdings Reclining)

by confoundedinterest17

The Federal Reserve has announced a raft of emergency lending programs, with approval from the Treasury Department, to help the U.S. economy weather the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic. These could ultimately deploy trillions of dollars in lending.

The programs seek to keep financial markets functioning and, in unprecedented steps, provide direct loans to businesses, states and local governments.

Here’s a round-up of the nine programs — five of which are now up and running — with details on their current status. Lending totals are as of May 13 and will be updated every Thursday:

Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF)
Announced: March 17
Launched: April 14
Treasury backstop: $10 billion
Program limit: none
Deployed: $4.29 billion
Purchases short-term company IOUs directly from U.S. corporate and municipal issuers. Eligible securities about $1.1 trillion. Demand has been low as the Fed’s mere pledge to backstop the market drew normal lenders back in.

Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF)
Announced: March 17
Launched: March 20
Treasury backstop: none
Program limit: none
Deployed: $10.3 billion
Buys a wide range of securities — with an agreement to sell back at a future date — including investment-grade corporate debt, municipal debt, and mortgage- and asset-backed securities from primary dealers, which are the big banks and broker-dealers licensed to transact with the Fed. Its lending peaked in mid April at around $33 billion, then faded as the short-term funding markets calmed.

Money Market Fund Liquidity Facility (MMFLF)
Announced: March 18
Launched: March 23
Treasury backstop: $10 billion
Program limit: none
Deployed: $39.8 billion
Finances the purchase of high-quality assets from U.S. money market mutual funds, including government debt, commercial paper and municipal debt. Eligible securities estimated at $600 billion to $700 billion, according to Fed officials. Lending peaked in early April at around $53 billion as withdrawals from prime money funds halted and then reversed.

Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (PMCCF)
Announced: March 23
Not yet operational
Treasury backstop: $50 billion
Program limit: $500 billion
Will buy investment-grade corporate debt with maturities up to four years directly from U.S. issuers, and debt from some issuers downgraded after March 22.

Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF)
Announced: March 23
Launched: May 12
Treasury backstop: $25 billion
Program limit: $250 billion
Deployed: $305 million
Purchase investment-grade corporate debt from U.S. issuers with maturities up to five years in the secondary market, debt from some issuers downgraded after March 22 and some ETFs that buy corporate debt. The New York Fed began ETF purchases on May 12. The SMCCF is expected to begin purchasing eligible corporate bonds in the near future.

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Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF)
Announced: March 23
Not yet operational
Treasury backstop: $10 billion
Program limit: $100 billion
Will purchase securities backed by credits to consumers and small businesses, including credit-card receivables, student loans, auto loans and leases, equipment loans and some small business loans.

Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (PPPLF)
Announced: April 6
Launched: April 16
Treasury backstop: none
Program limit: none
Deployed: $40.6 billion
Finances lending to small businesses that qualify for the Treasury’s Paycheck Protection Program. Congress appropriated a total of $669 billion for the loans, which can turn into grants if companies retain or hire back workers.

Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF)
Announced: April 9
Not yet operational
Treasury backstop: $35 billion
Program limit: $500 billion
Will purchase municipal debt maturing in less than 36 months directly from states, counties and cities. After initial criticism, the Fed lowered the population thresholds for eligible counties and cities to 500,000 and 250,000, respectively. Issuers must have held an investment-grade rating as of April 8.

Main Street Lending Program
Announced: April 9
Not yet operational
Treasury backstop: $75 billion
Program limit: $600 billion
Will finance full recourse bank lending to U.S. companies with fewer than 15,000 employees or less than $5 billion in annual revenue. The four-year loans will be extended through three distinct facilities: one for new loans, another for increasing existing debt and a third for more heavily leveraged borrowers.
New Loan Facility: Maximum loan size of $25 million or four times 2019 adjusted EBITDA. Lenders retain a 5% stake in each loan. Minimum loan size is $500,000.
Expanded Loan Facility: Maximum loan size $200 million, 35% of a borrower’s outstanding debt or six times 2019 adjusted EBITDA. Lenders retain a 5% stake. Minimum loan size is $10 million.
Priority Loan Facility: Maximum loan size of $25 million or six times 2019 adjusted EBITDA. Lenders retain 15% stake. Minimum loan size is $500,000.

But with the explosion of FANG (tech) stocks since the March Covid meltdown, why is The Fed holding corporate bonds of firms like AAPL and MSFT?

The holding of corporate bonds (corporate credit facilities) grew even after the FANG index was rising rapidly.

At least The Fed’s holdings of FX Swaps has been downsizing since June.

And how about the fact that The Fed Has Loaned $1.2 Billion from its TALF Bailout Program to a Tiny Company with Four Employees. Alta Fundamental Advisers.

Jerome Powell, The Wild One!

 

 

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