Fear and uncertainty about the global economy are leading investors to embrace the relative safety of U.S. government debt and slashing yields to record lows.
Interest paid on the 10-year Treasury note reached 1.34 percent early Wednesday, just below the previous record set in 2012. Historically, when concerns have flared about a potential recession, investors have shifted money into havens such as U.S. Treasurys and sent yields falling.
The market’s signal this time seems somewhat hazier than usual, and there’s far from any consensus among economists that a recession is approaching.
As recently as the start of June, the yield on the Treasury note was 1.85 percent. Then the U.S. government issued an anemic May jobs report. And Britain voted to abandon the European Union — a move that caught markets off guard and magnified concerns about the global economic order. – READ MORE
