It is important because it is an indicator of perceived economic risk, monetary liquidity, and perceived credit risk of the global financial banking system. (arborinvestmentplanner.com)
Following the November 2016 election in the U.S., we saw a surge in risk sentiment, where assets with perceived credit risk gained and assets thought to be risk - free sold off, as investors rotated their portfolios (PC1). (blackrockblog.com)
The TED spread, an indicator of perceived credit risk in the general economy, spiked up in July 2007, remained volatile for a year, then spiked even higher in September 2008, [236] reaching a record 4.65 % on October 10, 2008. (en.wikipedia.org)