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| BondsOnline.com: instant access to and extensive coverage of over 3.5 million stocks, bonds, indexes and other securities covering major and emerging markets and exchanges across the globe. |
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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
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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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Individual Choice: Bond Funds are More Expensive Than Individual Bonds |
Financial Planning - May 1, 2011 - By Chris Shayne
If you thought individual bonds were too expensive for your clients, new research might change your mind.
Last year was the second consecutive year of historic inflows into retail fixed-income mutual funds. By the end of 2010, retail investors held $1.23 trillion in actively managed fixed-income mutual funds ($819 billion taxable + $409 billion municipal) compared with $768 billion at the end of 2008 ($470 billion + $298 billion), according to the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices. That's a 60% increase in just two years.
Those are striking figures, but considering the extreme stock market losses of 2008, it's not surprising fixed income has become so popular. Investment-grade bond funds are typically less volatile than stock funds and are also easily accessible, particularly in 401(k) plans, so they've been a convenient option for investors hoping to reduce risk and put money to work quickly.
But as with any investment, they involve tradeoffs. In particular, actively managed mutual funds can be an expensive way to access the fixed-income market. And perhaps more important, bond funds are susceptible to interest rate risk, which means fund values fall when rates rise. So in a rising-rate environment, retail investors lose twice: from a fund's fees as well as the drop in its value.
Individual bonds, on the other hand, are subject to neither of these problems (as long as they are held to maturity and don't default). A new study by BondDesk Group suggests that buying individual bonds in the retail market (trade size under $100,000 par value) is among the most cost-effective ways to access the fixed-income market. And in a rising-rate environment, individual bonds will have a paper loss, but as long as they are held to maturity and there is no default, they will return their principal in full.
For the complete article.
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| Partner Market Place |
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| Stuff to look at |
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| BondsOnline Advisor |
Income Security Recommendation January 2013 Issue.
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