Bond Yields Are Sending a Scary Signal on Stocks
The renewed rally in U.S. Treasuries doesn’t bode well for stocks.
Stocks may be headed for trouble, if bonds are any guide.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
There is no shortage of investors shrugging off the latest leg lower in U.S. Treasury bond yields, saying heavy central bank involvement in this part of the financial market make such moves less of a signal that the economy or that equities are headed for trouble. That interpretation would be a mistake.
Recall that yields on 30-year government bonds started to decline on Jan. 2, anticipating the fallout from the budding coronavirus crisis that had taken hold in China. Yields fell from 2.34% on that day to 0.94% on March 9, as the price of the benchmark 30-year bond leaped 29%. Only on Feb. 19—seven weeks later—did the S&P 500 Index begin its 35% slide. Fast forward and 30-year yields have fallen from 1.66% on June 8 to a recent 1.19% as their prices climbed 9%. The question is whether stocks will follow again, and with a similar lag of about seven weeks.