Glossary term
Yield
The return an investor earns on a bond, expressed as an annual percentage of its price.
A bond pays fixed amounts on a fixed schedule. Its yield is those payments expressed as a rate of return on what you pay for it now — so yield moves inversely to price. When bond prices rise, yields fall.
Long yields are not set by the Fed. They reflect where markets expect short rates to average over the life of the bond, plus compensation for tying money up that long. This is why a rate cut today can coincide with long yields rising: the cut is known, the expectation is what moved.
Where you will see it
Treasury yields are quoted constantly in rate coverage. The ten-year yield in particular is what mortgage rates track.
Related terms
Used in these explainers