The Fed Rate Cut Drives Up Long-Term Yields

In September of 2024, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50-points. Long-term yields went up.

The bond market reaction revealed something new to us.

Gone are the days (1999) when a Time headline proclaimed that Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers could save the markets as part of a Committee to Save the World.

The Fed can only lower the Federal Funds Rate — the rate that determines the annual interest rate on overnight deposits between banks and the central bank.

Unlike the dotcom boom and bust, the Fed and Treasury today have to deal with a higher debt-to-GDP ratio and (farther) out-of-control deficit spending.

Bond investors know the game.

So… it’s no surprise, really, that last year’s trend is on repeat, despite the much-bally-hooed rate cut last week:

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Following the Fed’s rate cut last week, bond traders pushed up yields on the 30-year
Treasury from 4.65% to 4.76%. (Source: CNBC)

For now, short-term investors — think money market and savings accounts — will see a drop in their yields.

But… despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s best efforts to finance the US government’s mounting pile of debt… longer-dated bonds are offering even higher yields.

For savers, there’s an option to grab those high yields while you can.

~ Addison

P.S.While the bond market is continuing to fight the Fed, defensive asset classes are taking off. Gold is well over $3,700 per ounce. Silver has topped $43 and may be on its way to retest its old highs at $48.

Plus, commodities such as uranium are breaking out after consolidating over the summer, and copper remains near highs. There’s still room for the commodity space to run.

This week on Grey Swan Live!, Portfolio Director Andrew Packer and contributor Shad Marquitz will review the latest developments in the commodity space and determine the best commodity plays through the end of 2025 and into 2026.

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If you have any questions for us about the market, send them our way now to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com.

In September of 2024, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50-points. Long-term yields went up.

The bond market reaction revealed something new to us.

Gone are the days (1999) when a Time headline proclaimed that Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers could save the markets as part of a Committee to Save the World.

The Fed can only lower the Federal Funds Rate — the rate that determines the annual interest rate on overnight deposits between banks and the central bank.

Unlike the dotcom boom and bust, the Fed and Treasury today have to deal with a higher debt-to-GDP ratio and (farther) out-of-control deficit spending.

Bond investors know the game.

So… it’s no surprise, really, that last year’s trend is on repeat, despite the much-bally-hooed rate cut last week:

Turn Your Images On

Following the Fed’s rate cut last week, bond traders pushed up yields on the 30-year
Treasury from 4.65% to 4.76%. (Source: CNBC)

For now, short-term investors — think money market and savings accounts — will see a drop in their yields.

But… despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s best efforts to finance the US government’s mounting pile of debt… longer-dated bonds are offering even higher yields.

For savers, there’s an option to grab those high yields while you can.

~ Addison

Plus, commodities such as uranium are breaking out after consolidating over the summer, and copper remains near highs. There’s still room for the commodity space to run.

Turn Your Images On

If you have any questions for us about the market, send them our way now to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com.

Today, in a world of increasingly volatile markets, the rise of too-big-to-fail institutions, and over 26 years of money printing, gold’s rise, priced in U.S. dollars, is just getting started.

As we’ve been forecasting, gold could rise significantly from here, simply to match changes in the money supply over the decades.

With the U.S. dollar going digital, entering a new regulatory phase, gold’s case looks better than ever.

Just a couple of days ago, everyone was celebrating gold’s move above the critical $4,000 psychological resistance level. But with today’s pullback, it slipped back below that level in both COMEX futures and spot, which makes me pause and think, as it indicates a rejection of that key level.

This increases the likelihood of a modest pullback or a period of sideways consolidation, as gold may have temporarily run out of momentum to push higher in the short term. That is perfectly normal, healthy, and not at all surprising. It is much like a sprinter who has just run hard and needs a moment to catch their breath.

Gold. Stocks. Bitcoin. Prediction markets. Each a different surface on the same wave — money searching for a story it can still believe in.

The Schelling Point of this moment isn’t one price or policy; it’s the shared intuition that something historic is shifting… even though we haven’t named it.

It’s Friday. It’s a good time to “remobilize our axioms,” as my favorite William F. Buckley quote goes.

We need to stick to our guns and remember that the goal of understanding Grey Swan events as they unfold is to plan, preserve our capital, and earn a good return for the long run. Let’s not get distracted by the market highs or headlines of a terrifying bull!

Only during the ‘08 financial crisis and its aftermath have the majority of money managers seen stocks as undervalued.

This data point is another in a list of historic highs – stock indexes, gold, silver, bitcoin, retail investment, retail margin borrowing – we’re seeing in the market right now.

Markets are out of whack to the upside.

History’s cautionary tale? When markets are out of whack… it takes an unsettling event (crisis) to get them back into whack.