Bond Market

1. The bond market remains in a cyclical bear phase.

2. Note, however, that the long Treasury is now significantly
oversold. The chart of the $USB shows o/s on RSI and the stochastic, but observe as well how far the price is below its 200 day m/a.

3. To view the long Treasury yield in longer term perspective, click here.
The bond yield is moving up to test long term downtrend lines. Over the
past two decades, the tests have provided excellent buying opportunities.

4. The market is approaching an important crossroads. If the current
cyclical bear phase in the yield remains intact, the downtrend lines
may well be violated and this would be a prima facie warning that the
long term bull market in bonds could be coming to an end.

5. Since the current economic expansion began, the bond market has been
sensitive to the trend of commodity industrial raw materials prices and
less so to the CPI and energy feedstock prices. Spot industrials
remain in an uptrend, but have moderated recently. Even so, the bond
market has been weakening, suggesting a broadening out of focus,
perhaps to include the oil price as well as ongoing moderate economic
expansion in the face of rising short rates.

6. One continuing concern I have regarding the bond market is the
possibility that once the Fed is done raising rates, the FFR%
could be kept at a plateau level, as the economy might well
continue to expand with growth of economic demand and supply rounding
into decent balance. I suspect that in such an environment, players
might opt to put some risk premium back into bond yields.

7. I have stayed away from the bond market for the past year, primarily
because I think it is overvalued, with too little premium in Treasury
yields to reflect interest rate risk, supply risk and future long
term inflation potential.

8. If the market does show signs of bouncing from the current oversold
condition, I might go long for a fast trade, but that would be it.