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Interest rate expectations and the shape of the yield curve
According to the rational expectations hypothesis of the term structure (REHTS) long term rates should reflect market expectations for the average level of future short-term rates. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether REHTS assumptions conform to the term structure of outstanding U. S. Treasury securities from 1973 to 1995, and to examine the behavior of term premiums and to what extent they influence the shape of the forward curve. REHTS assumptions are re-examined using familiar regression tests to determine the forecast power of forward rates for subsequent spot rates, and we ...
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The short end of the forward convergence curve and asymmetric cat's tail convergence
How is the term structure able to predict future interest rates several months in the future and why is it so steep at the short end? Recent empirical work shows that rates of mean reversion are too slow to help predict short rates or to account for the curve's steepness. We propose that short term interest rates are predictable because Federal Reserve actions are predictable. In particular, our estimates suggest that the market anticipates the Fed's monetary stance twelve months in advance. Moreover, forward rates contain more information when the Fed is expected to tighten than when it is ...