The flipping yield curve

The flipping yield curve
Yield curve inversions and what they mean.
Paul Allison, CFA
Published
March 29, 2022

The debate amongst interest rate enthusiasts has moved on from whether central banks will raise rates and by how much, to what’s happening with yield curves.

What is a yield curve?

When governments spend more than the tax they collect, they plug the hole by borrowing. They borrow by issuing bonds, which are bought by investors at home and abroad. 

Because the gap between spending and tax income is enormous (and growing) governments need to spread out their borrowing terms. This is to avoid repayment schedules they can’t meet. 

So government bonds are issued with different lengths (terms), ranging from short-term two-year issues, all the way up to 50-year bonds for the UK and other countries with good credit scores.

Each bond is issued with a different interest rate. Usually, longer-dated bonds have higher interest rates. That’s because more can go wrong over a longer time period, and so lenders need a higher rate to compensate for potential risks

If you imagine a chart that plots each bond’s term in years against its interest rate, you’ll end up drawing out a curve. 

In normal times this curve slopes up and to the right because the longer the term, the higher the rate. 

What is an inversion?

Inversion happens when the yield on a long-dated bond, say 10 years, is lower than that of a shorter-dated version, like a two-year bond. 

Because bonds are traded, their prices change, and so do their interest rates (known as yields). 

When bond prices go up their yields go down. And vice versa.

Imagine a hypothetical scenario where you lend to the government (ie buy a bond) £100 for 5 years with an interest rate of 2%. In five years the government repays your £100 and you’ll earn £2 a year along the way, providing you a 2% annual return.

But what if you decided instead of waiting out the five years, you’d rather sell the bond. Say you do to someone else for £102. This person would still get £100 back at the end of the five years and £2 a year in the meantime. Though, they would have shelled out £102 for the privilege.

This reduces the return (yield) below the initial 2% rate, since they had to pay higher than the bond’s initial price. The higher the price goes the lower the yield becomes.

So when a yield curve becomes inverted, longer-dated bonds are more in demand (or are sold less) than shorter-dated bonds, and the yields on the longer bonds move lower than the yields on shorter-dated bonds.

Are we headed for a recession? 

Often, inverted yield curves beg the question of whether we’re on the cusp of an economic recession. The best answer we can give is maybe. It’s true inverted yield curves have a correlation with tougher economic times ahead, but each time is different, and there’s usually a significant lag between the inversion and any subsequent choppier economic waters.

The last time the 10-year US government bond had a yield lower than the two-year bond (a closely watched metric) was February 2006. That was over two years before the recession actually happened.

Current rates of inflation are also complicating the whole picture. Short-term bond yields tend to more closely match bank rates set by the Bank of England (BOE) or the Federal Reserve. Because those rates have been going up, the yields on short-dated two-year bonds have been as well.

So the inversion might be more about a rapidly increasing two-year rate than a falling or more slowly rising 10-year rate. And if the inflation picture changes, so would the yield curve.

If the yield curve inverts, you can expect plenty more ‘recession looming’ headlines. But one thing we know from the last few months is that the economic outlook is changeable. So expect the debate about, and the shape of, the yield curve to change with it.

Sign up to Honey by Freetrade, our market newsletter.

Join the discussion BHP Group, Persimmon, Just Eat, UK Inflation

See the most popular investments with a breakdown of the most traded stocks and most popular ETFs on Freetrade. Follow the IPO calendar and keep an eye on exciting new investment opportunities.

Important Information

This should not be read as personal investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice.

When you invest, your capital is at risk. The value of your portfolio, and any income you receive, can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Eligibility to invest into an ISA and the value of tax savings depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change.

Freetrade is a trading name of Freetrade Limited, which is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales (no. 09797821).

Related articles

Most read

Simple pricing plans

Choose how you'd like to pay:

Annually

Save 17%

Monthly

Annually

Save 17%

Monthly

£0.00/mo

Accounts

GIA pink
General investment account

Benefits

  • Commission-free trades (other charges may apply. See full pricing table.)
  • Trade USD & EUR stocks at the exchange rate + a 0.99% FX fee
  • Fractional US Shares
  • Access to more than 4,700 stocks, including the most popular shares and ETFs
  • 1% AER on up to £1,000 uninvested cash
£4.99/mo

£59.88 billed annually

£5.99/mo

Billed monthly

Accounts

GIA white
General investment account
ISA
Stocks and shares ISA

Benefits
Everything in Basic, plus:

  • Full range of over 6,000 US, UK and EU stocks and ETFs
  • Trade USD & EUR stocks at the exchange rate + a 0.59% FX fee
  • Automated order types, including recurring orders
  • Advanced stock fundamentals
  • 3% AER on up to £2,000 uninvested cash
£9.99/mo

£119.88 billed annually

£11.99/mo

Billed monthly

Accounts

GIA white
General investment account
ISA
Stocks and shares ISA
SIPP white
Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

Benefits
Everything in Standard, plus:

  • Trade USD & EUR stocks at the exchange rate + a 0.39% FX fee
  • Priority customer service
  • Freetrade Web beta
  • 5% AER on up to £3,000 uninvested cash

Download the app to start investing now



When you invest your capital is at risk.