Rates

This is a weekly chart of interest rates for the 30 year Treasury bond and the 3 month (91 day) Treasury Bill. These two rates are common benchmarks for interest rates in the U.S.. The red line is the 30 year Tbond. The blue line is the 3 month Tbill. The thin red line at the bottom is the "spread" between the two rates. In other words, the additional return you get for committing your money for 30 years instead of 3 months. As you can see, the spread is very small. If this spread ever becomes negative we would have an inverted yield curve, a severe danger sign for both the stock market and the economy. The chart is current through 8/17/98.