Chart of the Day: It's a Global Problem. And it's Getting Worse.

Many countries aren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye these days. But most are in the same boat when it comes to a big problem. Interest rates are going up...and the trend is getting worse.

Take a look at my MoneyShow Chart of the Day. It shows the yield on 10-year government bonds in Japan, the US, and Germany. The direction is pretty clear. Up in Asia. Up in North America. Up in Europe.

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Japan (Red), US (Blue), Germany (Green) – 10-Year Government Bond Yields

Source: TradingView

As of midday yesterday, Japan still sported the lowest 10-year yield on an absolute basis – 2.98% versus 3.33% in Germany and 4.77% in the US. But you can also see its benchmark yield is rising at a steeper angle.

I’m only showing three countries with three very large bond markets, too. A broader index tracked by Bloomberg shows global yields are at their highest since 2008 in the aggregate. That’s because the underlying problems are largely shared.

Wave after wave of government spending funded by massive debt issuance. The lack of political willpower on the Left or the Right to change the upward trajectory of debt-to-GDP ratios. A surge in corporate borrowing to pay for AI capital expenditures. Years of elevated inflation. Rising energy prices, which could exacerbate the problem. The list goes on and on.

It took a while. But even stock investors are starting to notice. That’s because rates are triggering my “Three ‘F’ Rule” – rising Far enough, Fast enough, and For long enough to pressure equities. We’re also in the midst of a historically weak period for markets.

Add it all up and you can see why I just warned our MoneyShow audience in San Francisco to be cautious. I don’t think the bull market is over. But I do think we’re in for some rough sledding for a little while. That goes for bonds AND stocks.