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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
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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)
|
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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Whitney’s Armageddon Belied by ’11 Returns |
Bloomberg - Dec. 16, 2011 - B y Martin Z. Braun
This was supposed to be the year the $3.7 trillion state and local debt market would be rocked by an exploding pension time bomb and “hundreds of billions of dollars” of defaults, according to analyst Meredith Whitney.
Whitney’s Armageddon never came. Instead, munis became the star performers of 2011.
An investor who bought $10,000 of munis the day after Whitney’s Dec. 19 prediction on CBS’s “60 Minutes” television program would have made about $1,050, based on the 10.5 percent gain in the Merrill Lynch Municipal Master Index, which calculates price changes and interest income. That beats U.S. Treasuries, stocks, corporate bonds and commodities. The muni return is better still because interest income is tax-exempt.
Public debt benefited as Treasury yields plunged and investors fled volatile stocks, powering the Merrill muni index to its third-best showing in a decade. As the U.S. economy recovered from the longest contraction since the 1930s, revenue rebounded, state and local governments raised the taxes backing their bonds, addressed underfunded pensions, cut spending and borrowed 30 percent less than the record amount of 2010.
“Politicians have actually done a pretty good job of stepping up and making pretty difficult decisions,” said Lyle Fitterer, who helps manage $28 billion of municipal bonds at Wells Capital Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
In the last four fiscal years, states closed more than $325 billion of deficits, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. All but Vermont are required to have balanced budgets, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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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