Menu Close

This Flat Yield Curve Is No Greenspan Conundrum (Low Inflation Prevails)

This is a syndicated repost published with the permission of Snake Hole Lounge. To view original, click here. Opinions herein are not those of the Wall Street Examiner or Lee Adler. Reposting does not imply endorsement. The information presented is for educational or entertainment purposes and is not individual investment advice.

  • Fed Study Says San Francisco Fed research blames low inflation, neutral rate
  • There’s some risk that term premium could rise abruptly

(Bloomberg) —  This isn’t Alan Greenspan’s yield curve.

The gap between short and longer-term interest rates has been narrowing even as the Federal Reserve raises its policy rate, a trend that echoes the so-called “flattening” of the curve between June 2004 and December 2005. Then-Fed Chairman Greenspan called the mid-2000s episode a “conundrum,” but the leveling out is no mystery this time around, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco researcher Michael Bauer writes in a note called the Economic Letter.Low inflation and neutral interest rates as well as political uncertainty are all weighing on longer-dated bond yields, keeping them low even as the Fed boosts the cost of borrowing in the near-term, Bauer writes. That’s important, because it means that if price pressures pick up quickly, investors could begin to demand better compensation for holding longer-dated securities — reversing the flattening and potentially dinging stock market valuations, which are based partly on the low level of yields in the bond market.

“Perceived inflation risk could reverse its course quickly if inflation suddenly trended up,” Bauer says in the note. “Similarly, if investors’ expectations about the Fed’s balance sheet were to change suddenly, or if investor sentiment about the relative attractiveness of Treasuries deteriorated for other reasons, the term premium could rise quickly.”

Inflation has been low this year, with the Fed’s preferred index posting a 1.6 percent gain in September, well below the central bank’s 2 percent goal.

Market-based indicators suggest that investors are starting to doubt whether inflation will accelerate. When investors expect prices to rise, they require extra return to hold longer-dated securities because of the risk that price gains will erode the investments’ value. But if they see a greater risk of tepid inflation progress, they’re willing to pay extra to hedge against low inflation — driving down longer-term bond yields and flattening the curve.

Likewise, Fed officials have gradually marked down their forecasts for how high they’ll ultimately lift their overnight policy benchmark. The shift reflects a growing sense among policy makers that the neutral rate — the one that neither stokes nor slows growth — has declined and will stay low. Expectations about future short-term rates are a key determinant of long-term yields, so as markets followed the Fed’s lead, it probably helped to flatten the curve, Bauer writes.

Finally, expectations for fiscal stimulus drove up bond yields when Donald Trump won the presidential election last year, but have since waned. The study shows Treasury yields falling on days with negative headlines about domestic politics and geopolitical risks.

Yeppers, core inflation is still 1.33% and the neutral real rate is 1.40% leading the San Francisco Fed to generate a Taylor Rule estimate of 5.96% for the Fed Funds Target Rate,  while it is only 1.25% — A GAP OF 471 BASIS POINTS.

Yes, the Taylor Rule gap is higher now that during Greenspan’s tenure as Fed Chair, mainly because core inflation is lower under Bernanke/Yellen.

But notice that core inflation declined to under 1% in 1998 under Greenspan. But 10-year Treasury note volatility is near an all-time low (under 4).

Cheers to Alan Greenspan, the architect of monetary expansion!

Join the conversation and have a little fun at Capitalstool.com. If you are a new visitor to the Stool, please register and join in! To post your observations and charts, and snide, but good-natured, comments, click here to register. Be sure to respond to the confirmation email which is sent instantly. If not in your inbox, check your spam filter.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RSS
Follow by Email
LinkedIn
Share

Discover more from The Wall Street Examiner

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading