When Safe Assets Outperform Risk: The 2025 Portfolio Playbook
For the first time since Y2K, the math has flipped. The 10-year Treasury (~4.23%) now outyields the S&P 500's forward earnings yield (4.15%), creating a negative equity risk premium, a phenomenon we've seen exactly twice in modern history, both preceding significant market resets. But here's the kicker: inflation-protected bonds (TIPS) are paying 1.94% real while equity dividends deliver -1.1% after inflation. Translation: The "risk-free" rate isn't just competitive, it's winning.