Is the TIPS spread currently negative? I am no expert on these things so if someone could enlighten me that would be great. I am looking at my Bloomberg and it says 5 year Treasuries are yielding 2.50% and 5 year TIPS are yielding 2.60%. Does this imply 10bps of deflation per annum?
I would like to understand this better too…
the yield is interpreted more as the breakeven inflation rate (so yes, you can interpret that as a 10bps “deflation”) so if inflation is expected (in 5 years) to be higher than the breakeven rate, then it’s worth owning the TIPS security, else it’s better to hold the treasury position. i also know that TIPS aren’t as liquid as treasuries, so there might be an inflated TIPS yield. anybody to add to this so we can all learn?