Unraveling Steepener Trade Heightens Focus on Fed-Liftoff Timing

  • Pre-2008, lag from steepening peak to hiking averaged a year
  • History of last tightening cycle showed gap can be much longer
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Wall Street banks are increasingly calling the end of a popular trade that dominated the bond market for the past few years.

Bets on a steeper Treasuries yield curve driven by the so-called reflation trade are crumbling, raising the crucial question for investors of what it means for when the Federal Reserve may start raising rates from near zero.