1.   It was a symptom of an overheated economy, and a useful early warning of faster inflation to come.

2.   Because labor accounts for about two thirds of business costs, a tight job market with rising wages signals faster inflation.

3.   Bond buyers are typically wary of strong growth as it often implies higher interest rates and faster inflation, both of which are bad for fixed-interest investments.

4.   Bond yields rose on expectations of faster inflation absent that economic cooling.

5.   Bonds fell Friday and Monday amid concern Greenspan would hint, in his semi-annual Congressional testimony, that faster inflation would soon lead the Fed to raise interest rates.

6.   Bonds tumbled in the past week after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan signaled that the central bank may raise interest rates even before signs of faster inflation appear.

7.   A rising dollar also means faster inflation could creep into the economy via rising import prices.

8.   A surge in consumer spending could raise the specter of faster inflation, which erodes the value of fixed income securities.

9.   A smaller deficit also would lessen the threat of faster inflation, which erodes the value of Treasury bonds.