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1. Bond Market Bracing for the Fed
By Tom Graff
8:28 a.m. EDT

Treasuries and corporate bonds are little-changed this morning ahead of the Fed this afternoon. Some observations:

The 10-year auction at 1 p.m. EDT will probably struggle to get domestic buyers. For that auction to go well, we'll need non-economic buyers (i.e. foreign central banks) to support it. I'm skeptical that group will bring enough demand to take down $23 billion in new 10's.

There is short-term risk of a steepener after today's Fed announcement, if they succeed in talking the market out of a January hike (currently a 50/50 chance based on funds futures). The 2's would rally. However, the long-term play is a flattener. Eventually the Fed's going to hike, and a flatter curve will result.

No positions.