There are all sorts of reasons being offered as to why long-term rates are seemingly ignoring the end of Fed monetary easing and ignoring the prospect of Fed rate hikes as early as next year (if you believe the rumors). When it comes to forecasting and rationalizing, most bond-market pundits should have lost all credibility in recent years. That’s what happens when so-called experts are consistently wrong more than five years in a row. When trying to understand what is going on in the world of Treasuries, instead of listening to the noise (there’s lots of it), I think it’s worth focusing on the big picture.
The Big Picture
When the Federal Reserve kicked off the current era of monetary easing by cutting the federal funds rate 50 basis points on September 18, 2007, it kick-started the Japanification of the U.S. bond market. Naturally, policy makers and economists will come up with all sorts of reasons the U.S. experience is not like Japan’s. But those reasons seem more designed to distract from the facts or to help people rationalize their own hope of what the future will look like. You will be distracted with all the differences in policy decisions between the Fed and the Bank of Japan. You will be distracted by those who will discuss the deflationary experience in Japan. You will be distracted by those who say Japan’s experience spanned decades while the U.S. experience has not (give it time). The bottom line, however, is this:
For nearly six years, the federal funds rate has remained close to the zero-bound. During that time, benchmark bond yields have remained at or near historically low levels. Despite five years of improving economic data, the Federal Reserve has still refused to raise its target rate. The reason for this is that the U.S. economy is structurally weak and highly dependent on cheap financing and rising asset prices to spur the little growth it currently has. The U.S. bond market is living through an experience similar to Japan’s.
Keep in mind that bond yields will jump around and perhaps even experience noteworthy moves to the upside. From time to time, the same thing occurred in Japan. Additionally, at some point, the Federal Reserve is likely to address criticism regarding its failure to raise rates by attempting a rate-hike cycle. Even the Bank of Japan raised rates, only to eventually return to its QE days of old.
Thus far, the Treasury market shows very little concern about the Fed initiating any kind of sustainable rate-hike cycle. And for good reason. Given the U.S. economy’s dependency on cheap financing, a Federal Reserve rate-hike cycle will put disinflationary and deflationary pressures on the economy. At some point, the Fed may decide to flex its muscles in an attempt to get the bond market to listen (the bond market currently seems uninterested in overtures about rate hikes in 2015). But given the Japanese bond-market experience the U.S. seems to be emulating, Fed governors would be wise to pay attention to the message the Treasury market is sending. Talk is cheap. Show us you mean business by raising rates. Then you’ll really get our attention. In the meantime, when attempting to understand movements in benchmark bond yields, investors should ignore the noise and focus on the big picture.
More from The Financial Lexicon:
The 5 Fundamentals of Building a Retirement Portfolio
Options Strategies Every Investor Should Know
Trusted & Regulated Stock & CFD Brokers
What we like
- 0% Fees on Stocks
- 5000+ Stocks, ETFs and other Markets
- Accepts Paypal Deposits
Min Deposit
$200
Charge per Trade
Zero Commission on real stocks
64 traders signed up today
Visit Now67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Available Assets
- Total Number of Stocks & Shares5000+
- US Stocks
- German Stocks
- UK Stocks
- European
- ETF Stocks
- IPO
- Funds
- Bonds
- Options
- Futures
- CFDs
- Crypto
Charge per Trade
- FTSE 100 Zero Commission
- NASDAQ Zero Commission
- DAX Zero Commission
- Facebook Zero Commission
- Alphabet Zero Commission
- Tesla Zero Commission
- Apple Zero Commission
- Microsoft Zero Commission
Deposit Method
- Wire Transfer
- Credit Cards
- Bank Account
- Paypall
- Skrill
- Neteller
What we like
- Sign up today and get $5 free
- Fractals Available
- Paypal Available
Min Deposit
$0
Charge per Trade
$1 to $9 PCM
Visit Now
Investing in financial markets carries risk, you have the potential to lose your total investment.
Available Assets
- Total Number of Shares999
- US Stocks
- German Stocks
- UK Stocks
- European Stocks
- EFTs
- IPOs
- Funds
- Bonds
- Options
- Futures
- CFDs
- Crypto
Charge per Trade
- FTSE 100 $1 - $9 per month
- NASDAQ $1 - $9 per month
- DAX $1 - $9 per month
- Facebook $1 - $9 per month
- Alphabet $1 - $9 per month
- Telsa $1 - $9 per month
- Apple $1 - $9 per month
- Microsoft $1 - $9 per month
Deposit Method
- Wire Transfer
- Credit Cards
- Bank Account
Share
The Financial Lexicon
