Finance & economics | Buttonwood

Investors should treat analysis of bond yields with caution

The exercise is more like reading tea leaves than scientific endeavour

An illustration of tea leaves in the shape of a question mark at the bottom of a tea cup.
Image: Satoshi Kambayashi

It was james carville, an American political strategist, who said, in an oft-repeated turn of phrase, that if he was reincarnated he would like to return as the bond market, owing to its ability to intimidate everyone. Your columnist would be more specific: he would come back as the yield curve. If the bond market is a frightening force, the yield curve is the apex of the terror. Whichever way it shifts, it seems to cause disturbance.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Reading tea leaves”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

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