For the first time in a decade, the yield on 3-month Treasuries exceeds that of S&P 500 dividends.
The above chart is from the Financial Times article by John Authers, Authers’ Note: Hunting for yields is getting easier.
Authers also notes the "Dividend Aristocrats" of the S&P 500 — the stocks with the highest and most reliable dividend yields — are finding that they now have competition from 2-year Treasury bonds.
Authers makes a number of interesting points.
- The Beige Book features far more references to inflation than it did when inflation was last persistently above the Fed's target.
- The intensity of references to inflation on the Google search engine is moving up.
- Net share buybacks have been negligible. It looks like the bulk of last quarter’s repurchases went on stock options.
It's increasingly easy to stick with my prognosis: Inflation is in the Rear-View Mirror.
The Nearly Unanimous Opinion: Inflation Has Arrived, reinforced today, adds to my conviction.