The Bond Vigilantes Are On The March

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: What moves the bond market has changed recently and disconcertingly. The 10-year Treasury bond yield’s recent action—and nonreaction to economic news that typically moves it—suggest a shift in bond investors’ focus from what monetary policymakers may do to rising alarm about what fiscal policymakers are doing. The worry is that the escalating federal budget deficit will create more supply of bonds than demand can meet, requiring higher yields to clear the market; that worry has been the Bond Vigilantes’ entrance cue. Now the Wild Bunch seems to have taken full control of the Treasury market; we’re watching to see if the high-yield market is next. We are still counting on moderating inflation to stop the beatings in the bond market.