The charts that matter: bond yields plummet again

Government bond yields around the world took a dive again this week. Here’s how it affected the charts that matter most to the global economy.

Welcome back. 

In this week’s magazine, we’re looking at economic and investment cycles. As John said in yesterday’s Money Morning, you can’t use them to time your entrances and exits into a market, but they can be a valuable tool for investors. Akhil Patel revisits the theme he wrote about in MoneyWeek in 2014 – that economies and markets are driven by an 18-year cycle based on land and property values. It’s a compelling read – subscribe to MoneyWeek here (and get your first six issues free) if you haven’t already done so.

This week’s “Too Embarrassed To Ask” video explains what “options” are. You can watch that here.

Merryn’s pulled another big hitter out of the bag as a guest on this week’s podcast – historian and author Professor Niall Ferguson. He talks to Merryn about the unpredictability of disaster and how we’ll never be prepared for it. Plus, he gives his views on bitcoin (he’s a fan), Covid restrictions and our possible descent into a total surveillance society. Find out what he has to say here

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web articles you may have missed:

Now for the charts of the week. 

The charts that matter 

Gold started to climb back up after its big fall.

Gold price chart

Gold price chart

(Gold: three months)

The US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners) climbed higher.

US dollar index chart

US dollar index chart

(DXY: three months)

The Chinese yuan (or renminbi) reflected the dollar’s strength, weakening a little (when the red line is rising, the dollar is strengthening while the yuan is weakening). 

USD/CNY currency chart

USD/CNY currency chart

(Chinese yuan to the US dollar: since 25 Jun 2019)

After seeming to settle last week, the yield on the ten-year US government bond dived lower again.

US Treasury bond yield chart

US Treasury bond yield chart

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

The yield on the Japanese ten-year bond reversed last week’s gains.

Japanese government bond yield chart

Japanese government bond yield chart

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the yield on the ten-year German Bund fell back to its level of three months ago.

German Bund yield chart

German Bund yield chart

(Ten-year Bund yield: three months)

Copper drifted lower – just a breather or have investors given up on the Great Reflation?

Copper price chart

Copper price chart

(Copper: nine months)

The closely-related Aussie dollar resumed its slide.

AUD/USD currency chart

AUD/USD currency chart

(Aussie dollar vs US dollar exchange rate: three months)

Bitcoin drifted lower.

Bitcoin price chart

Bitcoin price chart

(Bitcoin: three months)

US weekly initial jobless claims rose slightly, up by 2,000 to 373,000, revised up from 364,000. The four-week moving average fell, however, down 250 to 394,500. 

US initial weekly jobless claims chart

US initial weekly jobless claims chart

(US initial jobless claims, four-week moving average: since Jan 2020)

The oil price paused for breath – but that might not be the end of its bull run. 

Brent crude oil price chart

Brent crude oil price chart

(Brent crude oil: three months)

Amazon took another big jump.

Amazon share price chart

Amazon share price chart

(Amazon: three months)

While Tesla fell back, with a little rally towards the end of the week.

Tesla share price chart

Tesla share price chart

(Tesla: three months)

Have a great weekend. 

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