The US Bond Market Explained.
You will hear many people in finance and in trading tell you that the bond market is the most important market to understand because it influences every other market in the world… particularly the US Bond market.
In this video I am going to try and explain what the Bond market is for anyone new to trading or still learning about the bond market and then I will give you a prediction of where I think the market is moving next.
All within 20 minutes because that’s the limit on TradingView videos.
I will try to keep the terminology as simple as possible and jargon free for people still learning about this market but if at all you want any further explanation on anything covered, simply drop a comment below and I will do my best to answer them all.
Basics
- Two main elements to the bond market…
1) Bond prices “Called a premium”, simply, this is the price you pay to buy a bond.
2) Bond Yields. These are how much interest you are paid on that bond and are described in percentage terms.
As with any asset price, the prices of bonds are largely determined by supply and demand forces.
Typically, investors buy more bonds (and demand goes up) when the economy is projected to perform badly because bonds are regarded as one of the safest assets in the market.
&
Investors sell more bonds when they expect the economy to do well because they want to use that money to buy riskier assets such as stocks that will provide better returns in the economic good times.
These two elements in bonds are INVERSELY CORRELATED.
So when the Bond price goes up, the yield on offer goes down.
&
when the bond prices go down, the yield goes up.
Finally the last basic point to explain for anyone new to trading or the bond market is that the duration of the bond is also important to consider when analysing the bond market.
The most common bond is the 10YR but there’s also 30YR bonds and 1YR bonds available and the duration of the bond is the amount of time that the “premium” is locked up for… after the duration the premium is then paid back to the investor.
Each of these bonds durations perform differently depending on investors sentiments.
So hopefully that has given a brief overview of what the bond market is and explained the basics of how it works.
In the video above I explain the next steps that the bond market may have including projection 10YR yields of 3% or more to come! And the potentially dangerous consequences that could have for markets.
T-BOND
Interest Rate Spikes Precede CorrectionsNotice the downward trend in the US10Y since the 80's, while government, corporate and consumer debt has exploded to all time highs. The achilles heel of massive debt levels are high interest rates, which end up causing slowed growth and economic contraction. With ever higher levels of debt, the level of interest required to put the economy in pain falls over time - thus why we see crashes and corrections even as the US10Y spikes to levels far below the historical average (~6.18%).
Last year we popped above the "danger zone" trend line and we saw what happened. Watch out for interest rate spikes, it can save your ass.
Relationship between Bund and Euro US DollarWhat is the Bund?
The Bund is the German 10-Year Treasury bill, also known as a government bond. A holder of a bond is a creditor, and the issuer of a bond is called a borrower or debtor. When the price of the Bund increases, the yield received on that bond decreases and vice versa.
What is the relationship between Bund and EURUSD? Why is this relationship there?
The relationship between the Bund and EURUSD is inversely correlated - when the yield of the Bund increases, the Euro is bullish, and when it decreases it is bearish. One thing to note is that the price of a bond and the yield received is also inversely correlated.
The relationship is there because during periods of uncertainty, people generally look for less risky positions (they may liquidate any equity positions they may hold and invest in bonds if they have low confidence in the stock market). This new demand for bonds pushes the price higher, but forces the yields down. A quick equation can show why this occurs:
Let's say we have a bond priced at £1,000 with a 10% coupon rate (the amount you can expect to return per annum). The equation would be (£100/£1000) where yield = coupon value/price of bond. If the price of the bond increases to £2000, the yield decreases (£100/£2000) = 5% PA.
For a bond holder looking to sell the bond at a later date, this is good as they have already locked in the rate of interest that they will be paying. However, as a buyer of a bond, you want to be buying low to lock in a higher yield.
A concise explanation about what influences bond prices can be found at Investopedia (www.investopedia.com). I have borrowed from that below.
The factor that influences a bond more than any other is the level of prevailing interest rates in the economy. When interest rates rise, the prices of bonds in the market fall, thereby raising the yield of the older bonds and bringing them into line with newer bonds being issued with higher coupons. When interest rates fall, the prices of bonds in the market rise, thereby lowering the yield of the older bonds and bringing them into line with newer bonds being issued with lower coupons.
Bond yields and FX
The spreads of the 10Y bonds can be used to gauge the direction for currencies as well. When the yield spread increases in favour of a certain currency, it is likely that you will see that currency appreciate vs others. When a yield spread tops or bottoms out, you can expect the related currency to begin to fall/rise in the following months. Playing on interest rate differentials is known as carry trading.
Above graph explained
The Bund is testing back to its 200 day EMA. On the recent occasions when it has tested here, it has failed to break above, however, the upward momentum appears to be intact .
In the short term there is clear divergence between Bund & EURUSD.
Furthermore our model shows the Bund as being a weakest bear suggesting it would like to go & turn bullish and indeed it would be back in a bull trend through 154 vs close last night of 152.9.
Form your own opinions.
Losses may exceed deposits.