When the Levee Breaks
Some hedge funds are using leverage to boost returns. They’re doing it with bonds. With bond yields so low, it’s one way to meet...
Municipal Bond Trap
Quite a few people have asked me about investing in municipal bonds lately. Now that the fiscal cliff is in the rearview mirror and...
Taxpayers on the Hook for Risky Student Loan Bet
In early 2010 at the urging of the Obama administration, Congress forced the private sector out of the student loan business. Two-and-a-half years later...
Euro-area Black Magic
From the lead article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: “With foreign investors almost completely absent from Spanish bond markets for months, Spanish banks...
Bond Yields Turn Negative
If you thought 25 basis point yields on two-year US Treasuries were bad, take a look at the yields on German Bunds. Two year...
Bond Risk
Insurance companies manage risk—their own risk. When it comes to insuring new-issue muni bonds, the only game in town is Assured Guaranty Ltd. They’re...
Your 2012 Bond Fund Resolution
I hope you made some good money in bonds last year, because it was not a good year for all bond funds. Through November,...
A Crucial Bond Fund Metric
When it comes to your bond money, you want to live to fight another day. To make sure you do, I recommend that you...
The Most Popular Bond Fund
When investors ask me to review their company’s 401(k) investment options, I can’t get over the lack of bond fund choices offered by the...
A Compulsive Liar
Meet the stock market: he’s a valuable economic indicator, but he also has a tendency to lie—even compulsively. The stock market misdirects, misleads, and...