The Best Bonds to Buy for a Recession

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One year ago, I wrote to you that it was time to buy bonds again. The “index huggers” who only know SPY thought we were nuts for talking fixed income.

The popular narrative at the time (which aged like boxed wine) was that interest rates would rocket to the moon in order to contain inflation. Or help the government fund its ballooning deficit. Or some line of reasoning.

When rates rise, bond prices fall. Hence, the prevailing vanilla sentiment was that bonds were for bums.

We original thinkers disagreed. We reasoned—correctly—that rates fall when recession fears grow. Period.Read more

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Are the best things in life actually free? It depends how we handle the hidden costs.

Free coffee is good. At home, I drink one mega-cup per day. At fixed income conferences, I typically scale that “complimentary” consumption up to double-digits per day. (Hey, they’re just hotel cups.)

Free breakfast is usually better than just free caffeine. And open bar, of course, reigns supreme for your income strategist.

No doubt these freebies are baked into ticket costs, but I will gladly accept the bacon and beer challenge to get my money’s worth.

When readers write in to ask my thoughts on “risk free” yields on certain bonds, it’s time for us to talk.… Read more

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Should we income investors buy any bonds right now? Bond prices have rallied, but the rear view mirror doesn’t help any new money we’re putting to work right now. Meanwhile interest rates are tanking, which tends to defeat the point of purchasing fixed income in the first place.

But, stocks are on a roller coaster ride. If you’re getting a bit nauseous with the violent day-to-day swings, you may appreciate a little stability to balance out your portfolio.

Whether you’re looking for dividends, sanity, or both, you’ve come to the right column. Let’s take a spin around Bondland and rank ‘em worst to first.… Read more

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