Last year a number of analysts sounded the death knell for the bond market. The chorus grew louder in mid-December when the Federal Reserve announced it would begin scaling back its stimulus program in January. Prevailing wisdom said that since the Fed’s $85 billion monthly bond-buying program has kept interest rates artificially low, bonds would soon come under downside pressure given the inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices. Funny, someone forgot to tell the bond market.
Take a look at the year-to-date charts above representing US bonds, US high yield bonds, US municipal bonds and (for good measure) international bonds. My proxies for these markets are iShares Core Total US Bond Market ETF (AGG), iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bd (HYG), iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond (MUB) and SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bd (BWX). Through February 27 these exchange-traded funds have increased 2.0%, 2.6%, 3.4% and 2.3%, respectively, and are up 3.0%, 7.7%, 6.5% and 3.8% over the past six months.
I don’t disagree that the 32-year old bull market in Treasury bonds is long in tooth. Looking back at 200 years of data on interest rates in the US, bond bull markets historically run 22-37 years. But I also know from studying the past that bond markets roll over very slowly – it can take 2 to 14 years to change trend. Bottom line: Low rates can last for a long time. Take the guesswork out of the investment process and let charts guide your decisions. My newsletter provides intermediate-trend buy and sell signals for the bond markets shown above.
♦ Please note that my readings will change without notice, so please don’t buy or sell solely based on anything you read in this blog. ♦
Bull Bear Barometer 