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Yields on U.S. 10-year Treasury notes slid below those on two-year notes on Wednesday, delivering a reliable recession signal and sending shudders through global financial markets.

Other sections of the U.S. Treasury yield curve have been inverted for months as investors bet that U.S. and global growth would slow.

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Here is what it all means.

WHAT IS THE TREASURY YIELD CURVE?

The yield curve is a plot of the yields on all Treasury maturities — debt sold by the federal government — ranging from 1-month bills to 30-year bonds.

In normal circumstances, it has an arcing, upward slope because bond investors expect to be compensated more for taking on the added risk of owning bonds with longer maturities.

When yields further out on the curve are substantially higher than those near the front, the curve is referred to as steep. So a 30-year bond will deliver a much higher yield than a two-year note.

When the gap, or “spread,” is narrow, it is referred to as a flat curve. In that situation, a 10-year note, for instance, may offer only a modestly higher yield than a 3-year note.