Word: bond
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After being burned, we humans tend to avoid what singed us and seek something soothing. High-quality bonds - in particular, the "risk free" ones issued by the U.S. government - were the most soothing investments of all during the financial crisis. While stocks were losing more than half their value, 10-year Treasuries returned more than 10% during that May-to-March period. And so - big surprise - investors have poured $240 billion into bond mutual funds so far this year, according to the Investment Company Institute. Stock funds - despite a big rebound in stock prices since March - have taken in less...
Makes sense, right? Stocks, risky. Bonds, safe. Or at least safer. But risk in financial markets has an irritating habit of following investors around. The big rush into bonds - especially high-quality, low-risk bonds such as Treasuries and government-guaranteed mortgage securities - may have created a situation in which most of today's bond investors are bound to lose money. Not 50% losses, as in the stock market, but losses nonetheless. Which for many newcomers to bonds will be a big shock...
...first time I heard Atteberry say this, I thought my ears needed cleaning. You see, FPA New Income is a bond fund - a very successful one. The mutual-fund raters at Morningstar named Atteberry and his co-manager and boss, Robert Rodriguez, 2008's fixed-income managers of the year. Yet Atteberry sees only trouble ahead. "I've got a bull market in bonds that's unsustainable," he contends. "It might last another six months. It might last another year. Is it going to last another three to five years? I don't think...
Before we get into the details, it's worth going over the difference between stocks and bonds. When you buy stock, you get part ownership of a company. If it does well, you share in the gains. If it flounders, you lose money. Bonds, on the other hand, represent a promise from a company or government or other borrower to pay you back, with interest. When you buy a bond, you're making a loan. Sometimes bond issuers (a.k.a. borrowers) renege on their promises. The financial crisis originated with a rash of defaults on subprime mortgages that had been packaged...
...revived merely to service the career needs of a Hollywood ego, or that a flimsy new construction has been trundled onstage just to see how much of the scenery can be chewed up. A Steady Rain,a new Broadway play by Keith Huff starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel (James Bond) Craig, raises another warning flag the minute the lights go up. The two actors are the only people on stage, talking directly to the audience, and the play is little more than a pair of interwoven monologues...