Mirabile dictu!

Yes, a wonder to behold - but not one I can explain. Better its left to the experts in today's bizzzaro world of maniacal central banking. That is, with the reminder that the ECB has now set its deposit rate at negative 0.2%, here's how Goldman explained the Irish note miracle to the WSJ:

If "you buy short-dated Irish or French paper and pay less [than depositing at the ECB], you're improving your net income, even if the yields are still negative," said Jonathan Bayliss, a managing director for global government bonds at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in London.

That's right, down is the new up. The price and yield of government bonds no longer have anything to do with risk or economics; its all about central bank machinations. Actually, its all about the speculator driven momentum surges that are triggered by central bank maneuvers.