Yield curve slope
The difference in yields between the long and the short section of the curve.
Formula
\text{Slope} = y_{\text{long}} - y_{\text{short}}How to read the number
A positive slope is the normal state: waiting longer is compensated. A flattening slope says the market expects rates to come down.
When the metric lies
The slope changes in two different ways — through the short end and through the long end — and the causes are unrelated. A single number cannot tell which of them moved.
Also known as: curve steepness, term spread