Historic Volatility Gap in U.S. Rates Has Traders on Tenterhooks

  • Relative risk in short-term rates reaches crisis-era highs
  • Treasury two-year note auction to highlight tectonic shift
Looking Into the Rest of 2022
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The great bond selloff may have eased this week at long last, but a Treasury fear gauge is sending a clear message: Not since the global financial crisis have two-year Treasuries been laced with volatility risk like this.

In a week marked by haven demand on Russia-Ukraine tensions and easing bets on an outsized interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve, options traders pared back expectations on how much interest rates will move around.