Jason Rotenberg
Former Macro Co-Head at Bridgewater, Cyclical Macro Investing
Long-dated US Treasuries look worth a small long: recent market action testing Treasuries is likely wrong, and the 20-30 year part of the curve is what the Fed can most easily push around. The Fed may raise rates but would not do QT. A long 30-year position also trims some overall oil beta. x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasuries are the safe-haven trade again as money rotates into yield. With the 30-year paying over 5%, holding non-yielding assets is harder to justify; after the Fed held, yields fell across the curve and TLT rose 1%. x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasuries look oversold because Treasury Secretary Bessent is likely to intervene soon. Long-end yields reflect term premium from a fiscal problem, not inflation fear, and only the issuer can fix it by shifting supply to bills, sizing up long-dated buybacks and signaling it. Treasury already doubled long-dated buybacks in August. With a trillion-dollar interest bill, policymakers have a pain threshold; the 1942-1951 yield cap is the precedent. @UrbanKaoboy sees a capitulation bottom. … Show more
Inflation has broken long-dated US Treasuries' safe-haven role. Long-term Treasuries have returned -4.1% annually in the 2020s to date, versus +4.9% in the 1930s. Long bonds look unlikely to do well for at least the rest of this decade. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasuries could rally after a Fed hike, because a hike could lower or at least cap the 10-year yield more than any other intervention at this point. The 10-year yield bottomed near 3.66% when Powell started cutting in September 2024 and has not returned there since. @lord_fed's point that the long end may rally after the hike, having sold off through the 2024 cutting cycle, holds. x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasury yields could drop sharply, as nobody is unwinding shorts in 30-year futures. One forceful move from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could bring a 30 basis point drop in yields. x.comÂ
The secular rise in Treasury yields will likely last longer and go further than most expect, making bets on a yield low premature. Investors tried to time the low in yields from the early 2000s and were 20 years early. The most rate-sensitive sectors, homebuilders, mortgage names and private equity, where smart money would show up first if a turn were near, show no hint of accumulation. x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated US Treasuries look favorable as the rise in 10-year yields appears mostly over; inflation searches have peaked, and only 13 of 29 tracked commodities are above their 50-day averages. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated US Treasuries benefit from falling long-end yields as the Fed's inflation response becomes a policy error. The Fed looks likely to hike again to defend its credibility despite a supply shock; 5% rates are unsustainable, and current price action points to financial damage followed by a hard pivot. A one-year rate freeze could instead let long yields rise by giving the economy a breather and making later hikes more likely. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasury yields have further to rise, because the government keeps announcing more long bonds, not fewer, even as demand for 30-year bonds at 5% is weak. 5% is not where it stops. x.comÂ
Long-dated Treasuries look like a high-reward, low-risk long as the 10-year yield meets strong resistance at 5%. Selling off into a 93% priced-in rate hike, with weak sentiment on both sides of the Fed decision, is not a recipe for continuation. Core CPI fell to 2.4%, the lowest since March 2021, while headline CPI is stuck at 3.4% on an Iran-driven energy supply shock that a hike can't fix. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh calls the 10-year the most important asset in the world. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
