A bear market for bonds?
First published January 23, 2023 at https://thepatientinvestor.com. Excerpt published with permission.
In 2009, Warren Buffett wrote:
"Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel. These once-unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome aftereffects. Their precise nature is anyone's guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation....."
He was wrong about inflation. The next decade enjoyed low inflation, despite loose monetary policy, for two reasons. First, globalization had flooded the global economy with hundreds of millions of Chinese workers -- earning a fraction of Western wages -- a huge deflationary shock that depressed wages growth. Second, a contracting US economy, after the global financial crisis, added to deflationary pressures. The combined effect offset the inflationary impact from profligate monetary policy.
The world has now changed. On-shoring of critical supply chains and geopolitical tensions with Russia and China are stoking inflationary pressures. Warren Buffett's warning now seems prescient as the Fed struggles to cope with inflation fueled by combined fiscal and monetary policy during the pandemic.
The abrupt reversal in Fed monetary policy has increased the risk of recession. All traces of the word "transitory" have disappeared from press announcements, switching to the mantra "higher for longer". The Fed funds rate is expected to reach 5.0% in the next few months, causing job losses later in the year.
10-Year Treasury yields broke former resistance at 3.0%, reaching 4.0% before retracing. Respect of support at 3.0% would confirm that the almost forty-year bull market in bonds is over.
Quote for the Week
You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.
~ Warren Buffet, 2001 Chairman's Letter to Shareholders
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Colin Twiggs is director of The Patient Investor Pty Ltd, an Authorised Representative (no. 1256439) of MoneySherpa Pty Limited which holds Australian Financial Services Licence No. 451289.
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