4. Don't Eschew The Steepener

In the run-up to and commencement of liftoff by the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury curve flattened, with yields on two-year sovereign debt rising, while its 10-year counterpart treaded water.

History is on the side of the flattener; the curve has tended to take such a shape prior to and amid previous tightening cycles. But Bank of America Merrill Lynch thinks this time is different.

"We have maintained that the curve flattener is the wrong structural trade for this hiking cycle," wrote Shyam Rajan, head of U.S. rates strategy.

The easing cycle that just ended, he noted, was novel in that the central bank's accommodative policy directly affected both the short and long ends of the yield curve. The private market will have to absorb much more duration than it did during the last cycle, according to Bank of America.

"The only reasonable rationale connecting the Fed to a flattener is the market pricing in a dramatic policy tightening mistake (beyond policy normalization)–an unlikely scenario where the Fed continues on its hiking path with the market pricing in pessimistic longer-term expectations," he wrote. "In our view, one of two scenarios will play out as to how the market will price the Fed in 2016 – slower (pace of hiking) and lower (terminal rate) path or faster and higher."

The consensus estimate is that the spread between 10-year and two-year Treasury yields will continue to compress in 2016. Strategists at Citigroup go even further, writing that strong employment gains could prompt the market to price in "a major flattening of the curve."

The Fed has indicated it will continue its reinvestment policy until the normalization of monetary policy is "well under way," a pledge that has helped support longer-dated Treasuries in the new regime's early days.

5. The Loon Soars Above The Eagle

No one could accuse Société Générale of being bearish on the greenback.

“The move may be more muted than over the past 18 months but the dollar will rise further in 2016—because it can,” wrote Vincent Chaigneau, global head of rates and FX strategy. “The U.S. economy is best positioned to withstand a strong currency, which will help contain home-born inflation.”

Among the world’s largest developed economies, the strategist sees one currency dethroning King Dollar in the year ahead.

“The Canadian dollar is the only G10 currency we expect to outperform the U.S. dollar in 2016,” he wrote, forecasting USDCAD at 1.31 by the time 2016 winds to a close.

Broadly, SocGen sees oil-related currencies recovering next year.

Conversely, Steven Englander, head of G10 FX strategy at Citigroup, warned that “there is a high risk that USDCAD will have to go well above 1.40 in the first half” in a report dated Dec. 6.

Morgan Stanley, for its part, expects USDCAD to end 2016 at 1.44, according to forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.