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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
|
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
|
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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Muni Bond ETFs Defy Debt Woes |
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY - July 25, 2011 - By TRANG HO
With half a year to go, state and local governments have so far defied a prominent prediction of defaults on hundreds of billions of dollars of debt this year.
Famous for calling the 2008 financial collapse, financial analyst Meredith Whitney warned on "60 Minutes" in December that 50- 100 state and local governments would default on their loans this year.
But so far the opposite of financial rapture has occurred. Defaults fell 60% in the first half of the year, according to the Distressed Debt Securities Newsletter.
The 24 defaults so far this year totaled $746 million vs. $2.29 billion in the first six months of 2010 and $4.89 billion in the same period in 2009. These defaults amount to less than 1% of Whitney's forecasts and a nano particle in the $3 trillion muni market.
Municipal bond funds have been one of the steadiest and best-performing fixed-income assets this year. IShares' S&P National Municipal Bond ETF (MUB) — the most popular of its kind — has risen 6% in share price this year while producing income at yield of 3.6% tax free.
By contrast, bonds on average as tracked by Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND) rose 2% while yielding a taxable 3.3%. MUB also outpaced the S&P 500's 5% year to date gain and without the nausea.
Municipal defaults are very rare because local governments can raise taxes and cut spending to balance their budgets. They can also dip into any rainy day funds or refinance their debt, which is easy when interest rates are low, as they are now. Even Orange County, Calif. — infamous in 1994 for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history — managed to get out of its mess in 18 months and pay back all bondholders in full.
For the complete article.
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| Stuff to look at |
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| BondsOnline Advisor |
Income Security Recommendation January 2013 Issue.
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