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| Bonds Online |
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| 5/10/2013Market Performance |
| Municipal Bonds |
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S&P National Bond Index
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3.00% |
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S&P California Bond Index
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2.96% |
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S&P New York Bond Index
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3.13% |
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S&P National 0-5 Year Municipal Bond Index
|
0.70% |
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| S&P/BGCantor US Treasury Bond |
400.09 |
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| More |
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| Income Equities: |
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| Preferred Stocks |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index
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848.03 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (CAD)
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636.26 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR)
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1,701.05 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR) (CAD)
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1,276.26 |
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| REITs |
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S&P REIT Index
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174.07 |
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S&P REIT Index (TR)
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425.30 |
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| MLPs |
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S&P MLP Index
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2,469.58 |
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S&P MLP Index (TR)
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5,428.50 |
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See Data
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The New Realities Of Muni-Bond Investing |
Forbes.com - March 10, 2011 - By Matt Schifrin
A few days ago I received several e-mails from my neighbors in Montclair, New Jersey asking that I join them in signing a petition demanding that our town leaders pass a 2011 budget with a 0% increase over 2010. It wasn’t a hard sell given that most of us are already feeling choked by rising property taxes and the glaring fact that Montclair’s municipal taxes have climbed 22% in the last four years.
Like many other towns across the nation, the Township of Montclair has a budget crisis in part because it is brimming in bureaucracy and it can no longer simply pass on the hikes to property tax payers thanks to Governor Christie’s belt tightening plan.
The e-mail points out that Hoboken, NJ is five times larger than Montclair yet we have 129 employees in our police department while Hoboken has 168. Hoboken has 10 municipal employees making more than $100,000, Montclair has 65. Of course, the Town Manager calls a 0% increase a “doomsday” plan.
I suspect that what is going on in my New Jersey town is not that much different than what is going on in many towns across America. The municipal crisis has come home to roost; it’s on the front page and at our front doors.
So it’s not surprising to also read that individual investor money has been rushing for the exits out of municipal bond funds–some $38 billion has poured out of the funds in the last 15 weeks.
The big question, of course, brought to the fore by Meredith Whitney and Nouriel Roubini recently is will we be facing widespread municipal bankruptcies rendering the muni-market a mine field of investor disasters? Remember municipals bonds have always had a very high ownership among individual investors both directly and via mutual funds. So this is a big deal for individuals.
I don’t think things will get that bad. Here are some facts:
Historically speaking actual capital loss from investment grade municipal bond defaults has been a very small fraction of one percent.
The muni-bond business is very fragmented. According to David Moore, head of municipal research at American Century, there are something like 55,000 issuers and even if the top 25 defaulted it would represent about 5% of the $2.9 trillion market.
For the complete article.
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Income Security Recommendation January 2013 Issue.
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