Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech has triggered a "bear flattening" in the bond market-a phenomenon where Treasury yields generally rise but short-term yields rise much more than long-term yields.

The move is the opposite of what happened after the Federal Reserve chairman last spoke in public following the central bank's July 28-29 policy meeting. Then, yields on longer-term bonds surged while those on short-term Treasurys fell, indicating concerns that the Fed might wait too long to lift rates and then have to raise them aggressively down the road.

Now, investors are more confident that Warsh would support interest-rate increases. That has eased their concerns about inflation over the longer term, and caused the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond to actually fall a little.