'Strongest Recession Signal Yet': Alarm Bells Sound as Key Indicator That Predicted Last Wall Street Crash Goes Negative

Warning signs that the U.S. economy could be barreling toward a recession quickly became alarm bells Wednesday after the Treasury bond yield curve—a key indicator that has preceded every major downturn over the past five decades—inverted for the first time since the Wall Street crash of 2007.

As the Washington Post reported, “the yields on short-term U.S. bonds eclipsed those of long-term bonds” on Wednesday, a phenomenon that “suggests investors’ faith in the economy is faltering.”

Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank, told the Post that “yield curves are all crying timber that a recession is almost a reality, and investors are tripping over themselves to get out of the way.”

CNBC described the inverted yield curve as the “strongest recession signal yet.”

Economists and other commentators were quick to place at least some of the blame for worsening market volatility on President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, the world’s second-largest economy behind the U.S.

Though Trump sparked a brief rally on Tuesday with his decision to delay his planned 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods until Dec. 15, markets tanked again Wednesday in response to the inverted yield curve, wiping out the previous day’s gains and triggering fears that a major recession could be imminent.