Will March be the death of the “TINA” trade? February started with the reflation trade and ended with a bond market rout that scrambled stock valuations and caused some to wonder whether this is the end to the fabled “there is no alternative” to stocks notion. “TINA” has become a mantra of bulls, arguing that yields have been so low that bonds were hardly worth owning as an asset class. But now there is a new cloud on the horizon — higher bond yields are putting a lid on high-valuation stocks.
“If the market begins to believe that the Fed lost control, and the Fed senses that, there’s a chance that the Fed will overreact, so we’re in a very potentially volatile period,” UBS’ Art Cashin said.