It has been a textbook year. That is, if your textbook is the Stock Trader’s Almanac. The old stock market chestnut “sell in May and go away” proved to be good advice this year. But that was not the only old adage of Wall Street traders that worked in 2011 — they all worked.
This has been the year of the stock market cliché in that all of the time-worn axioms based on the calendar actually were worth following this year:
Tax free bonds can be a great investment that lowers your tax obligations while still maintaining a fixed passive income.
Want to know how to use junk bonds in your portfolio? Junk bonds are bonds issued by companies whom the ratings agencies have deemed a credit risk.
After the briefest of pauses, the stock market is back to swinging back and forth and showing no clear direction either way–Europe-itis is to blame once more. On Friday the European Union was assuring the world that it had matters well in hand—by Monday the world was back to not believing any of it. The global markets responded accordingly by whipsawing back and forth.
Remember the days when you'd get a bond in an envelope for your birthday from Grandma? Well say goodbye to paper bonds and hello to electronic bonds as the Treasury is changing how bonds are issued.
Even with some of the advantages associated with investing in Treasury bonds, there are some disadvantages to be aware of. Investing in Treasury bonds might not always provide the best option for your particular situation.
Real return bonds are mainly a buy-and-hold investment. They are best purchased when inflation is expected to rise.
What is a bond? Bonds typically move inversely to stocks. If stocks are down, bonds will be up. During stock market weakness, bonds will lessen portfolio damage.
What is asset allocation? It’s the mixture and distribution of different asset classes - typically stocks, bonds, and cash – in a portfolio.
Even in a low interest rate environment, a balanced portfolio should include a portion of fixed-income investments to smooth out the peaks and valleys in performance and provide liquidity.
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1 year 12 weeks ago
1 year 12 weeks ago