Thierry from arvy
CFA, Co-Founder & CIO of arvy, Quality Investing
Long-dated US Treasuries face yields rising structurally for the first time in four decades. The 10-year yield has gone from 0.5% in summer 2020 to 5%, while oil and the dollar are turning at the same time. The worst stretches for financial assets were inflationary rotations into real assets, not crashes: from 1968 to 1982 US stocks rose 35% nominally but lost 51% in real terms. Long-wave cycles cluster a secular low in the late 2030s, though a projection is not a prophecy. x.com
Long-dated Treasuries face a secular unwind as the 39-year bond bull market that took 10-year yields from about 15% in 1981 to near 0.5% in 2020 looks over, with the 10-year now at 5%. That fall in yields was the mother of all bubbles because it lowered the discount rate under houses, equities, private equity, government debt and long-duration growth. Most investors have never managed money in a rising-rate world. A 5% 10-year is not itself a bubble, but the unwind has barely started. x.com
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.com
Long-dated Treasury yields keep rising because of US debt: Hormuz traffic has recovered and PCE inflation is cooling, yet yields won't come down. The government refinances $9 trillion a year plus over $2 trillion of new borrowing, about $30 trillion of issuance through 2030. With faster growth and deficit cuts seen as unlikely, investors see inflating the debt away as inevitable and refuse lower yields, pushing up the term premium itself, the textbook definition of a debt spiral. x.com
Potential spending cuts and AI-related deflation make long-dated US Treasuries an asymmetric opportunity. A Democratic sweep could cut spending; an AI-trade blowup could cause deflation, while the AI trade hurts employment. Ending the Iran war could reduce spending and oil prices. Further crude gains could damage the economy hard and quickly enough to outweigh the inflation threat. x.com x.com
Treasuries are losing their risk-free appeal as inflation runs hot and US government credibility erodes. If the 10-year projects inflation to surge, bonds that barely beat it make little sense, and Fed hikes won't slow a hot economy or fix an energy supply shock with oil at $100. Higher borrowing costs make the growing debt harder to finance, leading to money printing and more inflation. Big tech is more creditworthy than ever; even for fixed income, Alphabet's corporate debt is preferable. … Show more
A 1970s-style stagflation recession would leave long-dated US Treasuries exposed to inflation despite economic weakness. Grocery inflation is set to hit 4% in 2027 as the economy spirals into that downturn. x.com
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.com
Long-dated Treasuries stay pinned because the long end now prices deficits and issuance rather than the policy rate. Even when the Fed cuts the front end, term premium and supply keep the long bond down, which is why cuts have not helped. Per Charlie Bilello, the US bond market has been in drawdown for 71 months, by far the longest on record; bonds losing to inflation six years running is the debasement trade, and why hard assets keep getting bid. x.com x.com
AI borrowing is pushing rates up because hyperscalers will pay any price for money, so rates must keep rising until they hurt price-sensitive borrowers. Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle sold about $194 billion of bonds by early July, 79% more than in all of 2025, and the 10-year yield touched 5.33%, the highest since 2002. Julien Garran warns a downturn may not lower long yields much, with big deficits everywhere while Japan and China step back from Treasuries. x.com
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.com
Long-dated Treasuries are in a bear market as several forces push long yields higher. Oil and diesel prices tied to Russia-Ukraine, a Fed more determined since Jackson Hole to return inflation to 2% by holding rates high into a supply shock, and heavy corporate issuance for the AI buildout all weigh on bonds. Long yields are also returning toward their long-term average of about 5%. x.com
