The long-term Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is currently in a drawdown of more than 40%. This exceeds the 35% drawdown that high yield bonds (HYG) experienced in 2008 during the financial crisis.
Why It Matters:
High yield bond yields are rising but spreads are not widening. That’s because sovereign yields are rising just as fast. That is a big difference between 2022 and 2008. It’s not just peripheral countries. We are seeing stress in the UK and we are seeing stress in Japan. We are also seeing it in the US, where yields are rising at their fastest pace in 40 years, yield curves are inverting and some Treasuries are trading at 50 cents on the dollar. It’s a risk off environment, but one in which risk off assets are leading the way lower.
We saw a bearish reversal yesterday afternoon in the indices.
For today, I'm watching to see if the SPX can hold 3,638, then 3600. We'd need to get back above 3,689, then 3,700, to head back uphill. The $SPY has support at 363, then 360.
Two years ago tomorrow (October 21st), the social financial community lost one of its shining lights, our friend Jon Boorman.
In the year prior, he’d been diagnosed with Glioblastoma, an incurable form of brain cancer, and was given a prognosis of about one year to live.
We cannot possibly fathom what receiving that type of news feels like and I won’t even dare to attempt to imagine it.
All I can say is that when he called me on the phone and broke the news, I couldn’t keep my composure and cried like a baby. Amazingly, by this time Jon had already come to peace with what was happening. Jon, like me, was a fan of Stoic philosophy, and I can’t even begin to describe the awe I had in Jon as he seemed to face down this impending tragedy with amazing calm and acceptance.
One of the great blessings for Jon and his family was