Stock vigilantes do the bond market's work in testing economy
Stocks have replaced bonds as the market's daily referendum on the Trump administration.
Fixed-income markets used to be considered the savvy investor's version of the smartest kid in the class.
Treasury yields, it was often said, act as a daily referendum on the sitting government, credit spreads provide the surest and most dispassionate assessment of corporate health, and bond vigilantes were the last line of defense against rogue politicians or company CEOs bent on pursuing damaging spending policies.
