Bond Market's Bulls Are Shaken, If Not Shattered

There have been numerous sell-offs in the bond market the past five years, but each rout turned out to be short-lived as the market inevitably recovered thanks, in part, to central bank largesse. Now, however, there are strong reasons to believe this time may be different, and that the bond market's bears may finally be gaining control.

While the short end of the yield curve has been in a bear market for some time, with two-year Treasury note yields rising from less than 0.5 percent in June 2016 to 1.97 percent this week as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates five times, longer-maturity yields have largely traded in a tight range, or even fallen. But this week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury -- the global benchmark -- broke above the key 2.50 percent barrier.