The upheaval in stocks has been grabbing all the headlines, but there is a bigger problem looming in another corner of the financial markets that rarely gets headlines: Investors are dumping U.S. government bonds.

Normally, investors rush into Treasurys at a whiff of economic chaos but now they are selling them as not even the lure of higher interest payments on the bonds is getting them to buy. The freak development has experts worried that big banks, funds and traders are losing faith in America as a good place to store their money.

“The fear is the U.S. is losing its standing as the safe haven,” said George Cipolloni, a fund manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management. “Our bond market is the biggest and most stable in the world, but when you add instability, bad things can happen.”

That could be bad news for consumers in need of a loan — and for President Donald Trump, who had hoped his tariff pause earlier this week would restore confidence in the markets.

  • green@feddit.nlEnglish
    71·
    11 hours ago

    People from the U.S. (and even parts of Europe) do not understand how corrupt, stupid, and unstable majority of the world is. It is genuinely unfathomable.

    This does not excuse the fascism of the current admin, nor the war-crimes of the U.S. as a whole, but they are nowhere even remotely close to the likes of Moldova.

    • kokolowlander@lemm.ee
      33·
      10 hours ago

      Yup. US dollar is not the reserve currency because it’s attractive. It is the reserve currency because there simply is no alternative. There simply is no asset that can hold hundreds of trillions of dollar.

      • spicehoarder@lemm.eeEnglish
        22·
        9 hours ago

        I looked into escaping years ago. My immeasurable disappointment when I realized I actually had it pretty good in the US.

        You know everyone’s favorite talking point about Healthcare? I did the math, at least for my occupation, and if I were to move to Europe and get the exact same job and free Healthcare, I’d be making a fraction of what I do now.

        I’m not making excuses, the US absolutely could do better but jfc how is everything else so bad?

        • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
          5·
          9 hours ago

          if I were to move to Europe and get the exact same job and free Healthcare, I’d be making a fraction of what I do now.

          facepalm dawg you can’t just compare how much you make in the two places, how do you quantify the stress that comes from never knowing if medical problem is going to end your life… because it will bankrupt you and your family not because it will kill you directly?