
The Federal Reserve’s long-awaited rate hikes are unlikely to rescue the beaten-down Treasury market. Long-dated U.S. government bonds, as measured by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond exchange-traded fund, have generated 4.4% in losses this year on a total-return basis. Consider this: The 10-year breakeven rate, which measures future inflation expectations, has only risen 0.09 percentage points this year through Wednesday, even as the 10-year Treasury yield has risen nearly a full percentage point to 5.02%, a 19-year high.


