Bonds Behaving Badly
There are a couple of basic rules bond investors can depend on. The first is that bond prices fall when interest rates rise, and vice-versa. The second is that long-term bonds are vulnerable to larger [...]
There are a couple of basic rules bond investors can depend on. The first is that bond prices fall when interest rates rise, and vice-versa. The second is that long-term bonds are vulnerable to larger [...]
I've always felt that being a defenseman is the toughest job on a hockey team. Forwards score most of the goals, and goalies can steal the show with a few timely saves, but fans rarely notice a defens [...]
When I announced my stripped-down model portfolios at the beginning of last year, one of the asset classes I dropped was real-return bonds (RRBs). Part of the reason was simplicity: it’s easier to man [...]
Not many investors are enthusiastic about bonds these days, and it’s hard to blame them. While rates have ticked up in the last few weeks, they’re still so low that even some sophisticated investors h [...]
Everyone loves a discount, but if you’re buying bonds these days you may be out of luck. Just over a year ago, the BMO Discount Bond (ZDB) was launched as a tax-efficient alternative to traditional bo [...]
Q: I was surprised to see a Vanguard infographic pointing out that international [non-US] bonds are the largest asset class in the world. Do you have any thoughts on why Canadians have not embraced in [...]
With the bond market up about 3% year-to-date, the bears have been growling less than usual. But I still get a steady stream of email from readers who think bonds “make no sense anymore” because they [...]
The risk of rising interest rates has become an obsession in the financial media. Those risks are undeniably real: it’s quite possible that broad-based bond funds will see multiple years with negative [...]
Back in February I asked readers to share their ideas for new ETFs that might fill gaps in the current marketplace. The idea for that blog post came from a contest run by First Asset, who invited advi [...]
Why has the iShares DEX Real Return Bond (XRB) dropped so dramatically this year? I thought this asset class was protective in times of rising interest rates (which are correlated with inflation), but [...]