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Bonds & Rates
Government yields, the curve, credit spreads, and how central banks move fixed income.
Foundations
The Bond Market: The Complete Guide
The bond market is where governments, companies, and other institutions borrow money by issuing tradable loans called bonds. Each bond carries a face… · 8 min read
Why Bond Prices and Yields Move Opposite
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions because a bond pays a fixed coupon — when new bonds are issued at higher interest rates, older… · 6 min read
Government Bond Yields: The 10-Year Benchmark
A government bond yield is the annual return a lender earns for holding a country's debt, expressed as a percentage of the bond's price. The 10-year… · 6 min read
Duration: A Bond's Interest-Rate Sensitivity
Duration measures how sensitive a bond's price is to changes in interest rates — roughly, a bond with a duration of 7 will lose about 7% of its value… · 6 min read
The Yield Curve
The Yield Curve, Explained
The yield curve is a line that plots interest rates (called yields) on government bonds of different maturities — from a few months out to 30 years —… · 5 min read
Yield-Curve Inversion: The Famous Recession Signal
The yield curve inverts when short-term government bond yields rise above long-term yields — the opposite of the normal pattern. The most-watched… · 6 min read
Credit & Policy
Credit Ratings and Spreads
A credit rating is a letter-grade assessment of how likely a borrower is to repay its debt, running from the top-tier AAA down through… · 5 min read
Corporate vs Government Bonds
Corporate bonds are debt issued by companies; government bonds are debt issued by national governments. The key difference is credit risk… · 5 min read
How Government Bond Auctions Work
A government bond auction is the process by which a treasury or finance ministry sells newly issued bonds directly to investors, creating debt for… · 6 min read
QE, QT and How Central Banks Move Bonds
Central banks move bond markets through two main tools: the policy rate, which sets overnight borrowing costs, and the balance sheet, which they… · 7 min read