Treasuries (i.e. bonds) are issued for different terms, such as 3-year and 5-year terms. Typically longer term treasuries have higher yields because you're loan

Treasuries (i.e. bonds) are issued for different terms, such as 3-year and 5-year terms. Typically longer term treasuries have higher yields because you're loaning your money for a longer period. The Yield Curve™ is the difference between the yields of two treasuries -- in this article it is the 5-year Treasury note minus the 3-year Treasury note. When this difference is negative that means the 5-year note has a lower yield than the 3-year note. Investors typically want the highest yield possible, so they'll invest in the 3-year note rather than the 5-year note. A negative spread (difference) can indicate that investors are more confident about the short-term than the long-term. Note there isn't really a single "Yield Curve". You can take the spread between any two terms of a Treasury note -- e.g. the 30-year and 10-year or the 10-year and 2-year notes. The Federal Reserve provides a spread for the 10-year minus 2-year: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y2Y https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y2Y