Monday, August 25, 2008

Have bonds got it wrong?

Amazingly enough the 10 year note is yielding 3.8% while inflation is running at 5.6%. Why in the world would the bond vigilantes allow a negative yield? The commodity bulls have been pointing to the negative yield as an excuse for why commodities in general and gold specifically should be moving higher. Generally speaking bond traders are probably the most sophisticated investors in the market. Now either these investors are completely off base or bond traders are sensing deflation in our future.

Somehow I doubt the bond market is wrong. If that's the case then the collapse in commodities makes perfect sense.