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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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| 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)
|
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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Anything but the Dog Days of Summer |
Seeking Alpha - August 15, 2011 - By Christopher Kieth
The origin of the phrase “dog days of summer” has to do with a celestial event during the period between July 3rd and August 11th when the “Dog Star named Sirius rises with the Sun.” Like many of you, I have heard the phrase a number of times used in describing the hot and humid days of summer. The Merriam-Webster dictionary on the other hand, lists one meaning as “a period of stagnation or inactivity.” For my purposes, this last definition is the one I am thinking of because it is a complete and total contrast to how the last few weeks have been in the markets. As many of you are aware, they have been anything but stagnant and inactive.
Two events dominated the bond market as we approached the mid-point of the summer and they have left many of our clients asking questions. The events are related to the integrity of the once sacrosanct world of United States Treasury debt obligations. I say sacrosanct because Treasuries are considered a truly riskless asset class. When I say “riskless” I’m talking about free from default due to their explicit backing by the full faith and credit of the United States government. While Treasury investors have always had exposure to market risk as bond prices move both up and down, depending on market action, they have never been at risk of not receiving an interest payment, or receiving the full face value of their bond if held to maturity.
The first event began as nothing more than a date on the calendar this summer when our country would reach its constitutionally-dictated debt limit, sparking a political free-for-all over the size and wisdom of increasing the amount of money our nation is allowed to borrow. All fair game, in my opinion, as any responsible legislator should be aware of how much debt we can take on and the consequences of taking on too much. Unfortunately, with Washington being what it is, the discussion turned into a political showdown where both sides dug in. When the August 2nd deadline approached, the financial press had a field day and the non-financial press ran with stories and suggestions of a looming default where Treasury bond investors would not get paid their interest and principal. We discussed how far-fetched this notion was in some of our commentaries over the past few weeks, so I won’t repeat them now.
Suffice to say, in the end the debt limit was increased and a viable plan was set forth for ways to begin to address reducing the size of government. With that event behind us it should have led to a period of tranquility in the markets. Alas, that is not what happened at all.
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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