Rising bond yields are unnerving markets and it could get worse before it gets better

With inflation returning fast, government bond yields are rising along with prices. And that's unsettling markets around the world. John Stepek explains what's going on.

Jerome Powell
Jerome Powell: when push comes to shove, his instinct is to step in
(Image credit: © Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

A quick reminder before we get started this morning –don’t miss our webinar on Wednesday 20 October with BlackRock Smaller Companies trust.

I’ll be talking to manager Roland Arnold about his views on the outlook for the UK’s smaller companies against the current turbulent backdrop. Don’t miss it – register free here, and you’ll be able to watch it later even if you can’t tune in on the day.

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.