Thursday, November 17, 2011

Inflation expectations in the bond market

Here's an update on inflation expectations as expressed by the bond market.   As the nominal 10 year yield continues to drop it has pushed the TIPS real yield to nearly zero.  Some investors may grouse at the option of buying a security that guarantees a zero real return for the next 10 years and I agree with their sentiments. 


As to why this situation exists I would suggest it is a result of the Fed's desire to reflate the economy by numerous unconventional means (zero short rates, all the various flavors of QE)  


The spread between nominal and real yields has remains remarkably stable near the 2% mark with some noise on either side.   If we have another financial crisis, this time in Europe, I wonder if we'll see another drop in the implied breakeven rate....

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