• Stocks and oil still questionable as primary motivators for bonds
• European bonds and Treasuries suffered a tradeflow/technical reversal
• Stocks and oil definitely didn't help
• intermediate range is still intact, but trend is under attack

Bond markets have been increasingly looking like they had run out of steam after yields bottomed out last Thursday.  It's not uncommon for big moves like that to "flush out" trading positions.  Sometimes referred to as a 'short squeeze,' this dynamic involves traders who were betting on rates moving higher after April 5th's lows could subsequently being forced to cover those bets as rates improved on Thursday.  

Yesterday's sharper spike in European bond yields served as a warning shot, of sorts, but it wasn't too alarming considering 10yr domestic yields remained under the 1.755% pivot point.  Slightly more alarming was the fact that the positive momentum indicators were starting to roll over.  Today's weakness continues that process, though it still hasn't confirmed the end of the more conservative downtrends in rates.

To be clear though, the more aggressive downtrend is definitely under attack, and any further weakness tomorrow will confirm the risk of a bigger-picture shift.  

In terms of today's specific motivations, it's really those technical and tradeflow-based considerations that moved bond markets as much as anything.  Even before we talk about stocks and oil prices spiking (stocks and oil spiked, by the way), we should first remember that there is a lot of "supply" (new debt) coming to the table this week, both from corporations and governments.  Because of that, the next few days could easily end up being a head-fake back toward higher rates, and we may not know for sure until next week.