Sunday, December 22, 2024
As inflation has climbed to 40-year highs, interest rates have also ratcheted higher. For borrowers, higher rates are not a good deal, as they raise the costs of taking out loans. For investors, however, higher rates open up opportunities to invest safely and still earn a meaningful return. Today, let’s talk about an investment product […]
With interest rates moving higher, so are bond yields. However, bond funds still aren’t that exciting from a yield perspective. For instance, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) has a dividend yield of only 1.5%. One way to boost the cash flow from popular bond funds like IEF is to sell calls against the […]
Last week I spent a few days on the road with my travel trailer. On those long driving days, I like to listen to CNBC on Sirius XM. That service is the greatest thing ever for road trips, and listening is especially fun when the market is having a big down day. You would think […]
Last week, the financial news media went crazy when the Treasury yield curve inverted. If you listened to the news, you likely thought that the economy was sitting on the verge of a recession. But let’s talk about what the current yield curve really has to tell us. The Treasury yield curve plots current Treasury […]
Corporate bonds are near all-time highs as yield seekers are looking to improve on low yields from government bonds. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) is one of the most popular vehicles for getting exposure to high quality corporate bonds. However, the dividend yield is only 2.3% for LQD, and the […]
Dear Reader, Those of us out in the real world, buying gasoline, bacon, Christmas gifts, and renting homes, understand that inflation is real and probably higher than the official government inflation number. However, interest rates on fixed-income investments such as Treasury bonds and CDs remain very low. One exception is the U.S. government’s inflation-linked savings […]
Inflation is what everyone in the market is talking about these days. The financial markets are concerned that the Fed will have to hike rates much sooner than expected. Higher rates will significantly impact fixed income products like Treasuries and corporate bonds. Perhaps that’s why an institutional trader purchased 160,000 put spreads in iShares iBoxx […]
Last week, we saw a substantial amount of options activity in the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Bond ETF (HYG). HYG is a very popular ETF used for tracking junk bonds (aka high yield bonds). The ETF normally has about 220,000 options contacts that trade per day on average, but on a busy day last […]
We’re seeing bond yields on the 2-yr government bonds hitting 2020 numbers again. And this only benefits one specific sector. It’s not oil or materials. There’s another sector I’m seeing very bullish moves in… and I even point out 2 stocks that could see some upside. If you’re watching inflation as I am… you should […]
Building a diversified portfolio? Fixed income is one area you don’t want to overlook. Learn where to seek the best fixed income investments.
