Condensed Trading Week; Short-Term Rates Dragging Long-Term Rates Higher; Fed Minutes

It may be Wednesday--a day that typically marks the midpoint of the bond market's work week--and it may be the week of the month with several of the biggest-ticket economic reports, but today fills the role of summertime Monday due to the oddly-timed holiday schedule that saw a half day on Monday proper followed by Tuesday's full closure.  The result is an ultra-condensed data week with virtually all of the relevant happenings set for Thu/Fri.  The only exception is today's release of the Fed Minutes, but it's hard to imagine any major revelations coming out of that in light of the Fed communications we've received since the last meeting.

The short end of the yield curve has been trending steadily higher since early May and is once again approaching levels that make the yield curve the most inverted its been in decades.  This is a reflection of the Fed's rate outlook.  10yr yields are arguably being pulled higher against their will (and still trying to hold supportive ceilings, even if those ceilings are higher than they were last week).