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Quantitative Finance · Glossary

What is Bull steepening, bear flattening?

Also known as: bull steepening · bear flattening

Definition 31.5 Markets II: Rates, FX and Credit · Chapter 31 — Reading a Macro Calendar and a Rates Screen

A move of the yield curve is bull steepening when yields fall and the curve steepens, the short end falling more, and bear flattening when yields rise and the curve flattens, the short end rising more. Bull flattening and bear steepening are the other two combinations.

Changes in the 2- and 10-year Treasury yields on the 44 employment-report days of January 2023 to September 2026, classified by the average of the two changes (bull or bear) and the change in 2s10s (steepening above the dashed diagonal, flattening below it). Bull steepening, on the left above the diagonal, and bear flattening, on the right below it, are 34 of the 44. Data: H.15 via FRED; BLS release dates.
Figure 31.3. Changes in the 2- and 10-year Treasury yields on the 44 employment-report days of January 2023 to September 2026, classified by the average of the two changes (bull or bear) and the change in 2s10s (steepening above the dashed diagonal, flattening below it). Bull steepening, on the left above the diagonal, and bear flattening, on the right below it, are 34 of the 44. Data: H.15 via FRED; BLS release dates.
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