Sage Advice Quarterly Market Review 1Q2003

For most bond market participants, interest rates are at their lowest level in memory. In the taxable fixed income arena, yields on 3-month T-bills are around 1.2%, while 10-year notes are near 3.7% and long-term Treasury bonds are at 4.7%. High-grade taxexempt municipal bonds have yields near these same low levels. Another important characteristic of the current bond market environment that is reflected by these numbers is the exceptionally steep slope of the yield curve, that is, the shape of the relationship of bond yields plotted versus term to maturity.