Reuters
Treasuries extend slide on comments by Fed's Poole
Tuesday March 7, 9:19 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices marked their fifth straight day of declines on comments by St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole, who said the economy is on a growth trajectory worthy of the central bank's inflation-fighting attention.
The market brushed aside U.S. government data showing a rise in fourth-quarter unit labor costs and a greater-than-expected slip in productivity.
"Growing angst over Friday's non-farm payrolls report, coupled with hawkish overnight comments to Reuters from St. Louis Fed President William Poole, have teamed up to pressure bonds for a fifth consecutive day," UBS Securities said in a research note.
Poole said late on Monday that the U.S. economy has a "great deal of momentum" and the Fed may have to raise interest rates further, especially if growth exceeds expectations.
Unit labor costs, an important measure of inflation in the job market, rose 3.3 percent in the final 2005 quarter, above economists' expectations of a 3.1 percent result and an initial estimate of 3.5 percent, the government reported on Tuesday.
The data was part of the government's final estimate of fourth-quarter productivity, which it said fell 0.5 percent -- a bit less than the initial estimate of a 0.6 percent decline but more than the 0.1 percent drop economists had expected.
"The data had no real impact. The market seems to have bottomed out," said one trader at one of Wall Street's primary dealers, referring to the market of after a five-day selling streak, the longest since mid-October of last year.
Benchmark 10-year notes (US10YT=RR) shed 5/32 in price to yield 4.775 percent, compared with 4.754 percent on Monday.
Two-year notes (US2YT=RR) fell 1/32 to yield 4.788 percent, versus 4.771 percent on Monday.
Five-year notes (US5YT=RR) lost 2/32 in price and were yielding 4.783 percent, against 4.769 percent on Monday.
Thirty-year bonds (US30YT=RR) dropped 11/32 in price and were yielding 4.763 percent after ending the day on Monday at 4.740 percent.
Fixed-income traders were spooked by the prospect of another strong payrolls report, with the government's monthly tally of U.S. employment for February due on Friday.
Analysts were forecasting the creation of another 210,000 new positions last month, which would be consistent with a tightening labor market and therefore more Fed hikes.
Inflation risks tend to scare bond investors out of the market, because rising price pressure in the economy erode the value of fixed-income investments.
Sentiment has also soured in fixed-income markets around the globe on signs that both the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan would rein in loose monetary policies.
). Trasuda ottimismo 
... : la questione M3, in effetti, rende molti aspetti più opachi, ma lascia anche mano libera alla FED, quindi non so valutare l'impatto ultimo che la cosa possa avere - la questione borsa petrolifera viene in apparenza controbilanciata da un'ipotesi estrema di guerra all'iran, che mi pare fortina; in realtà i mercati valutari, e i relativi investimenti/disinvestimenti in asset, saranno sempre più protagonisti. Ciò prova che la globalizzazione è non solo dei mercati, ma anche delle strategie e dei politici. Vediamo, e speriamo che nessuno faccia cassate 
, bella lettura
