The holidays are upon us with the words of Charles Dickens usually coming from a stage near you, though these words are not from his A Christmas Carol. The opening line from A Tale Of Two Cities could also describe bond buyers here in the opening weeks of November.

The month began with ten-year U.S. Treasury note yields near 5% at 4.93%, just below a sixteen year high of 5.02% on October 23^rd (all yields and prices per Bloomberg). For owners of long duration bonds, it has certainly been the worst of times of late. For those ready to take the plunge and buy at these high yields and low prices, it may be the best of times.

A mere three weeks later and yields have plunged, or at least dropped a bunch, to below 4.40% on November 17^th. Hurry, before you miss out! But as a point of reference, 4.40% is also a sixteen year high for the treasury’s ten-year note, save the last three months.