Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Stop Trying to Pit the Fed Against the Bond Market

Treasuries aren’t fighting the central bank; they’re betting on the U.S. economy reaching its goals.

March 4, 2021 at 6:10 PM UTC

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

It’s not Powell vs. traders.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

After years of hearing the mantra “don’t fight the Fed,” it can be tempting to frame every move in the bond market as another bout between traders and the central bank. Try to resist that urge.

Heading into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s much-anticipated remarks on Thursday, the basic line of thinking went like this: How will he push back against traders who now doubt whether the central bank will truly keep monetary policy accommodative once the U.S. economy has moved past the Covid-19 pandemic?