Are swap spread charts available?

<p id="isPasted">In the aggregate, supply and demand factors take over. Swap spreads are essentially an indicator of the desire to hedge risk, the cost of that hedge, and the overall liquidity of the market.</p><p>The more people who want to swap out of their risk exposures, the more they must be willing to pay to induce others to accept that risk. Therefore, larger swap spreads mean there is a higher general level of risk aversion in the marketplace. It is also a gauge of systemic risk. When there is a swell of desire to reduce risk, spreads widen excessively. It is also a sign that liquidity is greatly reduced as was the case during the financial crisis of 2008.</p>

<p><br>Swap spreads correlate closely with credit spreads as they reflect the perceived risk that swap counterparties will fail to make their payments. Swap spreads are used by large corporations and governments to fund their operations. Typically, private entities pay more or have positive swap spreads as compared to the US government.</p>

<p id="isPasted">Just to spell out the problem - I presume you mean why overnight swap rates are used instead of treasury bond yield curves for valuations.</p><p>In the order of riskiness, overnight swap rates are very close to being risk free. So they can technically be used as a close proxy for a risk free rate (such as the treasury yield curves).</p><p>In some of the markets such as India, treasury bonds carry certain caveats that are usually not discussed in detail in text books. There are issues such as sovereign risk, central bank intervention and the 'freeness' of the market (which the article actually spells out).</p><p>Swap curves are probably easier to obtain and are as efficient as treasury bonds in such markets.</p><p>It has been a long time since I really thought about these concepts. Thanks for asking the question and let me know if you think I'm wrong.</p>

<p id="isPasted">Yes, swap spread charts are available online through various financial data providers and institutional platforms. These charts are crucial for analyzing credit risk, liquidity, and general market sentiment.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Where to Find Swap Spread Charts</strong></p><p>Swap spreads are primarily traded over-the-counter (OTC), but their data is widely published and visualized by several financial entities:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED): The St. Louis Fed's FRED database is a reliable source for U.S. Treasury data series, from which swap spreads can be calculated (e.g., subtracting a Treasury yield from a corresponding swap rate) and often visualized directly.</li><li>Bloomberg and Refinitiv (LSEG Data &amp; Analytics): These professional financial data terminals offer comprehensive, real-time charting and historical data for various swap spreads (2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 30-year) to institutional clients.</li><li>Financial News Websites: Major financial news outlets (e.g., Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times) occasionally feature charts on swap spreads in their market analysis articles, especially during periods of significant market movement or stress.</li><li>Central Bank Publications: Reports from institutions like the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) frequently include analytical charts showing historical swap spread movements and the factors influencing them, such as the shift from Libor to risk-free rates (SOFR). </li></ul>