(New York)

The big rally in ten-year Treasury bonds has created a worrying situation in the bond market—a steepening inversion. Despite the broad based rally, the negative spread between ten-years and three-month yields actually grew, as did the spread between two- and thirty-year bonds. Oil also plummeted 5%, as did the Dollar, a reflection of traders’ bets that the US is likely headed for a downturn and easier monetary policy.

FINSUM: The current inversion could just be a product of markets flows dictated by the trade war. What is worrying is that negative spreads actually widened instead of just staying flat, which adds more weight to the inversion-recession story.

(Washington)

It has largely faded from the news, but Americans in high tax states are feeling the pinch from the SALT cap limits. States are currently mounting a last ditch attempt to stop the new limit through a highly creative legal argument that relies on court precedent from as far back as the Civil War. However, early indications are that the push will fail, finally sounding a death knell for any hopes the cap would be overturned.

FINSUM: As one of our esteemed readers pointed out to us, this SALT cap has much more significant implications than real estate prices or asset allocations. The bigger worry is that the tax-home migration of the wealthy could hollow out the public finances of already precarious state and local governments.

(New York)

For most of this year and last, the idea of a nasty full-blown trade war was like a boogey man that stalked investors, but still seemed a slightly distant threat. That is no longer the case, as an ugly trade war has rapidly developed into the status quo. Accordingly, many top analysts, such as at JP Morgan and Nomura, are saying that high US tariffs on China are here to stay. Market volatility is likely to continue as new news continues to stream out.

FINSUM: There is a lot to worry about in this trade war, but one of our immediate, but less discussed, concerns is about the intersection of tariffs, the Fed, and inflation. The tariffs are likely to raise US inflation by boosting prices for goods, which could keep the Fed from hiking, trapping us in a difficult environment.

(Beijing)

China has a massive hoard of US Treasury bonds worth over $1.2 tn. Many have speculated that as part of a trade war with the US, Beijing may flood the market with these bonds in an effort to enforce pain on the US economy. Recent market data shows it is likely already happening. China recently dumped $20 bn of Treasuries, a move that cannot be accounted for as part of normal market flows. The move was China’s largest sale in more than two years. The sale came in March, just before US-China trade tensions were again heating up.

FINSUM: Our view is that China is more likely to threaten doing this and perhaps do some in small chunks than actually pull the trigger. However, even if they do, yields have fallen so far recently that it is hard to imagine they would rise much beyond where they were a few months ago.

(Washington)

The market shave been hoping, clinging, to the idea that the Fed will cut rates soon. Bond markets have all but assumed it with pricing, and even equities seem to favor the odds. However, the release of the most recent Fed minutes have all but put to bed those hopes. The notes clearly show that while the Fed is willing to leave rates where they are for some time, there is no appetite to cut.

FINSUM: One important caveat to these minutes is that the meeting was held just before the big blowup in US-China trade talks. At the time of the meeting, it looked like it would be smooth sailing to a deal.