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I must confess that the pattern in the bond market is a bit surprising.
Yield on the 30-year T-bond fell to a low of 3.48% on Friday, which helped
to propel the Lehman 20+ Year T-Bond (AMEX: TLT) to a new high of 106.30.
Who exactly feels comfortable buying a 30-year piece of paper at less than
3.50% is a mystery in general, but specifically at THIS time, after all of
the stimulus and rescue plans, the incredible 24/7 use of the printing presses,
and during a period when equities are staging an impressive rally (so far).
From a technical standpoint, the TLTs have created a divergent price peak
(with underlying momentum), which warns us that the power of the upmove is
dissipating quickly -- although the timing of a pending reversal may be elusive
at the moment. Finally, the pattern carved out off the June low looks complete
to me, which is yet another warning signal that the TLTs are "on borrowed time," and
why our model portfolio remains long the ultrashort version of the TLTs --
the TBTs -- ahead of what I think is an approaching price and yield reaction
of significance.

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