In the Financial News:
As volatility has recently heated up in the financial markets, the business news media turned to Performance Trust Capital Partners for expert commentary.

July 14, 2010
Chicago Tribune Business
Illinois Paying for Its Big Debt
Brian Battle discusses the issuance of another $900 million in Build America capital projects bonds by the State of Illinois. Battle said "Every time Illinois comes to market, the premium they have to pay gets higher because the market experiences Illinois debt fatigue." The secondary market, where previously issued bonds are bought and sold, provides a clue of what investors think bonds are worth at that moment, Battle said. If that proves to be the case, Illinois may have to pay a 1 percentage point premium to move its $900 million in bonds Wednesday, which would translate into another $10,000 a year for every $1 million in bonds issued. Battle declined to estimate a total extra cost, noting the 25-year issue is a collection of bonds with varying maturities. But a ballpark estimate, arrived through simple multiplication, reveals an annual premium of about $9 million. The state can still borrow, Battle said, "but it's paying more because it's a compromised borrower."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0714-state-borrowing--20100713,0,7134175.story

May 19, 2010
CNNMoney.com
Fear and Loathing in the Bond Market
Brian Battle discusses the rush into Treasurys following the heightened fear from the May 6 stock market flash crash. Battle said the 10-year could hit 3.25% soon. He also said that it’s likely that China boosted its position in April. "China and others are buying Treasurys because they are denominated in U.S. dollars. It's not because people love the U.S. government or its fiscal policies," he said.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/19/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

March 11, 2010
Associated Press
Rates are mixed after strong 30-year bond auction
Rich Berg discusses the results of a recent Treasury auction. Berg said the market at some point will get a jolt from weak demand at an auction. "It won't be a pretty ending but the problem is we don't know when the ending will come," Berg said. "We're waiting for the egg to be laid and it hasn't been laid yet."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMxes7aV1luYaSoMiV7nrcefUB9wD9ECNGLO1

January 29, 2010
CNNMoney.com
Independence Day for the Fed
Brian Battle comments on the anticipated next steps from the Federal Reserve. "The Fed's not political. You have to know that," joked Brian Battle, vice president with Performance Trust Capital Partners. a fixed-income trading firm in Chicago. "But can the Fed resist pressure to not do more if people start yelling about mortgage rates being too high?"

"The bond market would welcome an increase in the fed funds rate," Battle said. "There is no practical difference between rates at zero and rates at 0.5%, but it would signal that the Fed thinks the economy is really getting better and that it is reasserting its independence. That is what it needs to prove right now.">
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/29/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

January 28, 2010
Dow Jones, WSJ.com
Economic Data, Earnings Damp High-Grade Issuance
Brian Battle discusses issuance in the investment-grade corporate bond market. "Our view of the future isn't as good as we thought it would be," said Brian Battle of Performance Trust Capital Partners, noting spreads have tightened tremendously in the past few months with little justification and companies aren't giving many forecasts with their earnings. He added that he sees money pouring into the U.S. while the Euro zone handles its Greek drama.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100128-720572.html

January 12, 2010
CNNMoney.com
Stocks sink on earnings woes Brian Battle comments on the day’s market performance. "Everyone was expecting the fourth quarter to be better," said Brian Battle, vice president at Performance Trust Capital Partners. "I think the market has been taken aback by the fact that it may not have been as good as people had thought." He said that investors were not just reacting to Alcoa's miss, but also to the recent ho-hum economic news and all the focus on the bank sector this week.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/12/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm

November 9, 2009
Associated Press
Stocks jump after G-20 pledge to aid economies Brian Battle comments on the day’s market performance. He said the strength of the carry trade is giving an artificial lift to a range of assets, including stocks. “There’s cheap money that’s going to be pumping its way into the system," he said. “That money is finding its home in the currency and commodity markets."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/business/main5591229.shtml

June 29, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Wall Street advances at the start of a holiday-shortened trading week
Brian Battle reacts to the day’s financial markets. “Trading will be thinner than usual, particularly toward the end of the week, with a lot of guys taking off early ahead of the holiday," Battle said. “It’s going to be very whippy, and we shouldn’t pay too much attention to the 100-point swings.  Regarding the Madoff verdict, Battle said that Wall Street would be relieved that he got the maximum.  But he said there might be concern that the scandal will mean increased government regulation of money management.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/29/markets/markets_newyork/

June 9, 2009
Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal Online
TARP Repayment Go-Ahead Boosts Bank Sector
Brian Battle discusses the day’s purchases in the government agency sector. The success of the three-year Treasury auction may have something to do with that, he said, but the real show will start tomorrow with the 10-year and 30-year Treasury auctions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090609-713994.html

May 7, 2009
The Chicago Tribune
Problems at smaller banks add up to big trouble
Brian Battle reacts to concerns about the issues facing the nation’s smaller banks. “You go into sell-preservation mode.  You stop lending and no amount of pressure (from Washington) will change that," said Battle.

April 30, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Fed fights a losing battle on bonds
Brian Battle discusses long-term rates on U.S. Treasurys.  “The bond market sold off because the Fed isn’t changing the amount of bonds they are going to buy," Battle said. “The bond market wants to test the Fed. There is a feeling that 3% is the magic number on the 10-year, so we’ll see if the Fed tries to drive it back down to that level," he said.  Battle said yields could go as high as 3.25% in the short-term, especially if stocks continue to rally and more economic data suggests that the economy may be close to hitting bottom.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/30/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

April 29, 2009
Dow Jones Newswire/The Wall Street Journal Online
Debt Markets Gain on Fed’s Positive Turn
Brian Battle reacts to the action by the Federal Open Market Committee. “The tone, the perception that things aren’t as bad, from the top, it’s helping a little bit," Battle said.  But he sounded a note of caution on the “fatal lack of demand" from consumers for homes, cars and televisions, leading to a slowing global economy.

April 27, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Stocks slip on flu, bank concerns
Brian Battle comments on the day’s financial markets.  “Airline and hotel stocks are getting hit today and that’s appropriate if the swine flu has a big impact on travel," he said. “But I think we’re more concerned that it’s the middle of the earnings reporting period and major companies are due out this week."  In addition, there are jitters ahead of the release of the stress tests next Monday. “We need to know who cleared and who didn’t, and for those who didn’t, what’s the federal government going to do about it?"
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/27/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm

March 19, 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Treasurys, Stocks Applaud the Fed
Brian Battle comments on the Federal Reserve’s bond-market intervention. “It’s a shocking out-loud admission that credit markets remain troubled," Battle said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123737316880469079.html

March 11, 2009
MarketWatch.com
Mark-to-market rule compromise is on the way
Brian Battle offers some viable alternatives to the mark-to-market accounting rules:  He explained that one alternative would be to allow banks to develop a model and analysis of what they believe their illiquid assets are worth and what they forecast the securities will be valued in the following quarter, he said. In this approach, a bank must also explain the asset’s value if sold today. One hypothetical scenario:  A bank produces analysis and documentation that its asset is worth $80, its value will be $90 next quarter and it can get $50 in the market today.  Analysts and investors would become more or less confident in a bank’s assets valuations, as it becomes clear whether or not they meet these estimates.  “Some banks will become known as sandbaggers while others would be perceived more favorably because they met their modeled forecasts," he said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mark-market-rule-compromise-way-even

March 2, 2009
Dow Jones Newswire
GE Shares fall to 15-year low as CDS costs soar
Brian Battle reacts to the news about GE’s debt rating and dividend reduction. “It looks like they’ll be 0 for 2," he said, predicting a rating cut.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge-shares-fall-to-15-year

February 26, 2009
Christian Science Monitor
How to close America’s confidence gap
Brian Battle comments on the government’s efforts to restore confidence in the U.S. economy. “There’s no confidence that we know what the rules are yet," he said. “It doesn’t help that the administration has spent a lot of time talking about how bad everything is."  Battle said the goal is for markets to start functionally normally again and that still hasn’t happened.

February 11, 2009
The Chicago Tribune
Treasury promises to help homeowners, but the potential reality remains a mystery
Peter Cook reacts to the latest bank bailout.   He said the plan largely appeared to be “warmed-over TARP One," he said.  Supply and demand imbalances in the mortgage market are the central problems that must be addressed, Cook said.

February 10, 2009
Medill News Service
Critics of mark-to-market accounting renew efforts to get it overturned
Rich Berg discusses the web site Performance Trust launched to educate people on the mark-to-market issues affecting financial institutions. “Many people do not realize that the mark-to-market rules are having a disastrous effect in today’s distressed market because they are discouraging banks from taking on significant amounts of new lending, which is vital to economic recovery," Berg said.  “My fear is we will kill all the banks and then figure we should have made a change," he said. He likened the issue to a home loan where the appraised value of a home falls below the loan value and the homeowner is left to come up with the cash or face foreclosure.  “Lenders don’t want to be forced to come up with cash if the value of the loan or asset declines below cost," Berg said. He added that such rules make sense for investment banks, but for commercial banks it destroys capital and the bank’s ability to lend.  A better solution, Berg said, would be to allow banks to take impairments in the amount they expect to lose on an asset but not the entire asset.
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=115061

February 6, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Bond market calls the Fed’s bluff
Brian Battle comments on efforts by the Federal Reserve to keep long-term interest rates down. “The government has to pay for stimulus somehow.  The market is fearful of the new supply," Battle said.  “Whether the Fed will do something or not, there is an implied threat," he said. “But I think another selloff is coming."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/06/markets/thebuzz/index.htm?postversion=2009020621

February 3, 2009
 Associated Press
Healthy payoffs lure investors to corporate bonds
Brian Battle discusses investing in corporate bonds.  He said investors who want to take the plunge on individual bonds should select companies that seem best positioned for hard times.  He singled out Caterpillar Inc., among others, as a “pretty good credit" despite declining demand for its heavy equipment in a global recession.  Still, he said, there is significant risk in most any individual corporate bond these days.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6795946

January 30, 2009
Associated Press
Stocks’ January drop isn’t welcome sign for 2009
Brian Battle comments on volatility in the financial markets.  “The axioms that always held true are out the window," he said. He noted it wasn’t too long ago that many investors and consumers alike believed housing prices would always rise.  “This year is so different.  You have to go back to the 1930s to find this kind of dislocation," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6771898

January 29, 2009
Associated Press
Stocks fall on fresh worries about economy
Brian Battle comments on the day’s financial markets. “It seems like we’ve gotten through the financial crisis.  Now we’re dealing with global synchronized recession," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6756818

January 22, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Stocks drop on banks and Microsoft
Brian Battle comments on the day’s financial markets. “We’re back to the volatility levels we saw in November, where it’s up 250 one day, down 250 the next, only it’s going to feel more dramatic this time because the Dow is at 8,000," Battle said.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/22/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm

January 21, 2009
The Chicago Tribune
Chicago-area execs offer bailout advice
Rich Berg was asked to comment on what the government should do to get banks to lend.  “Currently, financial institutions face potential mark-to-market accounting for ‘impaired’ loans and securities," Berg said. “Until this rule is changed, these institutions will be tight with lending."

January 8, 2009
CNNMoney.com
The job market is worse than you think
Brian Battle reacts to the latest government unemployment numbers.   He said it was important to note that the average workweek declined from 33.5 hours in November to 33.3 hours in December, and that spooked him more than the other numbers. “It looks like people that are still employed are working less," Battle said. “That portends more job cuts in the future.  Companies might be keeping people now, but eventually will have to let them go if they are working less."

January 7, 2009
CNNMoney.com
Stocks knocked by recession fears
Brian Battle comments on the day’s financial markets. “Attendance is higher and people are paying attention again to the numbers," Battle said. “I don’t think the job news is that surprising, but it’s a reminder that we continue to face a global economic erosion." He said some uncertainly about the timeline and content of an economic stimulus plan was also in the mix.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/07/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm

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