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A comment on The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted. Parent comment

Re:The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted by bunderbunder on Monday December 03, 2018 @05:12PM (#18593670)
I don't think it's that - US Treasury Securities are always regarded as being nearly as safe as cash.

But, in a recession, the stock market tends to nose dive, which prompts a lot of people to flee to fixed-income securities because they're viewed as being safer. Which would also drive down yields.

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Re:The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted by madamelic on Monday December 03, 2018 @05:34PM (#18593834)
Great, thanks for your help. I'm understanding much better now about how bonds are priced and how it relates to their yield. :)
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Re:The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted by kgwgk on Monday December 03, 2018 @05:49PM (#18593933)
> US Treasury Securities are always regarded as being nearly as safe as cash

Not always:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_govern...

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Re:The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted by kbutler on Monday December 03, 2018 @06:36PM (#18594311)
From the page you linked:

"Market consequences ... U.S. treasury bonds, which had been the subject of the downgrade, actually rose in price and the dollar gained in value against the Euro and the British pound, indicating a general flight to safe assets amid concerns about a European debt crisis.[31]"

Basically, no one believes rating agencies with respect to the US paying its debts - but they do believe that if the US government is in chaos, it will be bad for the world economy.

One should also remember that US bonds are denominated in US dollars, which the US government can print. Also, if you're comparing to "cash" you probably mean "US dollars" which are backed by the "full faith and credit" of...the US government.

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Re:The U.S. Yield Curve Has Inverted by User23 on Monday December 03, 2018 @08:35PM (#18595080)
For many years the US federal government wasn't rated at all, because it was correctly seen as the absurdity that it is[1].

[1]https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/rating

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