With long term treasury yields safely above 5.00% every one and their brother is seizing on the rise in rates. Round numbers are for journalists an easy thing to use as a hook for their stories. CNBC would barely exist without them.

The solid rise through these levels has convinced many observers that still higher rates are in the works. From a piece at Bloomberg.com:

“It's an important psychological level and the risk is rising yields won't end anytime soon,'' said Michael Rottmann, head of fixed-income research at HVB Group in Munich. `This could ultimately translate to further pressure on Treasuries.''

This move has also taken the hordes of economists who forecast these things by surprise:

The rise in 10-year yields may have caught most economists off guard. The median estimate of 70 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News from Feb. 27 to March 7 was for the yield to end this quarter at 4.80 percent, and peak this year at 4.90 percent.

Eddy Elfenbein at Crossing Wall Street has also noticed the move in the bond market. He presents (in a responsible way) the parallels between rising interest rates, higher gold prices and a surging stock market during 1987 and 2005-6. This adds up to a shift in the "market's attitude." Worth a look.