Skip to content
Latest
Yield Update
Subscribe
MarketsAnalysisPast Article

'Priced In' Is Not a Fact

The phrase sounds like a measurement. It is usually a guess about what other people already believe.

By Marcus Ell, Markets Columnist

New York1 min read

a few skyscrapers in a city
a few skyscrapers in a cityPhoto by Kulturno on Unsplash

Say a number is 'priced in' and you have claimed to know the average expectation sitting inside a market price. Sometimes a traded contract really is a probability, and you can point at the contract. Often the speaker cannot.

A Treasury yield is a price. It is consistent with many combinations of expected short rates and compensation for risk. You cannot peel those apart by tone of voice. Analysts who do it are offering a model. The model is not the print.

What can be stated is what the yield was, and what it was the day before, when both numbers are published. If the yield moves after the meeting, the move is news. The story that everyone already knew is not.

Subscriber content

This story is in the archive

Create a free account to read one article a day, or subscribe for full access.

Already have an account? Log in

See an error? Request a correction.