For all you yield curve geeks
We’ve mentioned the crystal ball-like qualities of the US yield curve a couple of times on this blog. In May Jim showed that it can be a good predictor of recession (read article here), and the San Francisco Fed has recently published this interesting piece that adds weight to the argument.
There is some statistical analysis within the article, but in short it concludes that the yield curve is a better predictor of recessions than the professionals. There’s the old joke about the bond market predicting 9 out of the last 5 recessions – but the fact is that the economists employed by the investment banks predicted none of them. Nobody on Wall Street likes a bearer of bad tidings – just unleash the Rally Monkey and everything might be alright.
The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
17 years of comment
Discover historical blogs from our extensive archive with our Blast from the past feature. View the most popular blogs posted this month - 5, 10 or 15 years ago!
Bond Vigilantes
Get Bond Vigilantes updates straight to your inbox