US borrowing costs are pushing higher and Washington is leaning on Japan to prop up the yen, which is bad news for the government's debt bill, for stocks, and for anyone paying a mortgage.

• Treasury yields have jumped to a 19-month high, and a $10 trillion wave of old government debt has to be rolled over into new bonds at those higher rates.
• Interest payments already eat a large slice of government revenue, and that share balloons if yields keep climbing.
• The yen keeps sinking despite an expensive rescue attempt, so Bessent wants Japan to raise its own interest rates instead of selling off its huge pile of US Treasuries.
• Japanese investors hold trillions in dollar assets, and if that money heads home the US bond market and the dollar take the hit.
• Renewed fighting with Iran and threats to the Strait of Hormuz have pushed oil back near $90, keeping gas prices and inflation high after five years above the Fed's target.

Outlook: Expect more government intervention in currency and bond markets, with a real chance the Fed raises rates rather than cuts.