It's almost as if bond traders and economists are watching different versions of Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress this week.
Traders are taking the Federal Reserve chair's comments over the past two days—that the labor market market isn't fully healed and inflation is too low—as confirmation that the Fed is very unlikely to raise interest rates in the first half of the year. Economists, including UBS Group AG's Drew Matus and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Michael Feroli, saw in her message reasons to reaffirm their calls for the first increase to come by June.
But there's a third view about how Yellen's testimony applies to the bond market, as expressed by Jim Bianco, the founder of Bianco Research LLC in Chicago: It doesn't really matter.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
- Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
