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How Can I Chart the Yield Curve?

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The yield curve is in the spotlight over the last few weeks as the 10-YR Treasury Yield ($TNX) surged back above 2%. Chartists can plot the yield curve on a SharpChart or with the Dynamic Yield Curve tool. The image below shows the Dynamic Yield Curve on the left and the S&P 500 on the right. The vertical red line on the S&P 500 chart marks the date for the current yield curve, which is shown as the red line on the left. Chartists can click on the S&P 500 chart to move the red line and see what the yield curve looked like at different price points (2007 high or 2002 low). The dark gray lines on the yield curve reflect the changes over time. Notice that most of these lines are below the current red line and the yield curve has steepened recently. 


The chart below shows some Treasury yields in the main window and the yield curves in the lower windows. The Treasury yields are shown using the "Price (same scale)" overlay so they line up. Chartists can plot the yield curve using the two yield curve symbols. $YC2YR plots the difference between the 10-year Treasury Yield ($UST10Y) and the 2-year Treasury Yield ($UST2Y). $YC3MO plots the difference between the 10-year Yield and the 3-month Treasury Yield ($UST3M). 

Chartists can also plot the difference between two symbols with the minus sign (or hyphen). Choose "Price" as the indicator and then enter $UST10Y-$UST2Y in the parameters box. This will plot the difference between the 10-year yield and the 2-year yield. Note that this can be done for any symbol pair. The image below shows the SharpChart's settings. 

Arthur Hill
About the author: , CMT, is a Senior Technical Analyst at StockCharts.com. He has written articles for numerous financial publications including Barrons and Stocks & Commodities magazine. Focusing predominantly on US equities and ETFs, his systematic approach of identifying trend, finding signals within the trend, and setting key price levels has made him an esteemed technician. In addition to his CMT designation, Arthur holds an MBA from the Cass Business School at City University in London. Learn More
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