RBS rates strategist Andrew Roberts is only talking in quotes â and not the stock kind either. His latest European Rates Weekly is chock-full of bond market soundbites, all of which would be music to a bond bullâs ears, or make a bond bubblistâs ear drums burst in horror. In fact, the note even begins with a quote â but weâve highlighted some others for you too: âIt never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight! It is no trick at all to be right on the market⦠Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon.â (âReminiscences of a Stock Operatorâ, Edwin Lefevre, 1923) * * âNeutral is the new shortâ, as we say in client meetings. Leg one of the rally, shorts exiting, is complete. Leg two of the rally is the market getting long. * * The no.1 conclusion of this is that reaction to any weak data/events/speeches will/would be more violent, as positions have the ability to turn quickly & the consensus which is still focused the other way (ie, earnings fine, growth fine, selfsustaining recoveries) changes view. * * So do not be surprised by severe downward yield moves in coming weeks. * * The equity spurt from the EMU stress tests is now complete in our (FI strategy) eyes. Global equity weakness should be a major force for asset allocation & lower yields, and when this does kick-start, it should be a strong positive at 30-years. * * We get accused of making clients reach for the razor blades (as a client said to us today). Far from it. A portfolio of gold, yen (or best in swiss francs our RBS FX strategist Paul Robson suggests) and 10-yr nominal govts in countries not in the âpossible defaultâ category should continue to be solid routes to profit. * * 10s continues to be our sweetspot for long positions. As we said similarly in mid-2008, this is a duration world, not an RV world. Be long. Next trade is to see an extension of lower for longer, and the soft bull trade of 2s5s flatteners moved longer. 5s10s trades too steep relative to 2s5s because the weight of this lower for longer theme has led to high positioning in 5s (visible in CTA data & anecdotally in Europe). We see this shifting along the curve (and eventually into 30yrs). See our trades around this (eg, 5y5y), especially Andy Chaytorâs UK piece where this looks very attractive. The quote at the top is from one of the two main sources I have learnt most everything I know (however small), on how to invest and think about markets. This is perhaps the most important summation of how I see fixed-income. Why? http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?segid=70409 Is Andrew Roberts the new rates strategist clown in London ?