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Post by FD1000 on Dec 3, 2022 17:26:47 GMT
I wouldn’t bet on declining rates, and I see no reason to go LT with the yield curve the way it is. But I will be stashing my cash in FZDXX on Monday, until I can figure things out. IT-LT rates already declined. I don't invest in LT rates, I let my managers decide what to do, they surely raised the duration by several years and will lower them as needed. HY Munis duration used to be at 6-8 years and several of them are at 10+ now. The beauty of MM is the fact they are going up and getting closer to 3 month treasuries. As I said on another thread, if you want a guarantee and locking your money for 3-6-12 months, you can do it. You can still sell, of course. But MM gives me all the flexibility to trade at big chunks + still getting 3.8% annually. What's not to like. Remember, treasury at 4.4-4.6 vs 3.8 is for 3-6 months hold is just 0.6-0.8% on an annual basis but while treasury is locked, MM marches on. Every trade I made, got me easily the difference and much more. The last several weeks were the sweet spot where many bond fund exploded. You can see below the 5-10 treasury rates, they were down nicely. Attachments:
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Post by Fearchar on Dec 3, 2022 18:26:01 GMT
At Fidelity, 3 Month T-Bills are yielding 4.39% while agencies are 4.48% The only thing is ... MM rates have been going up daily. After 3-6-12 months, will they be higher than the T-Bill rate that I can lock in now. Another question: I've never bought treasury bonds through Fidelity. Is it fairly straightforward (assuming I plan to hold them to maturity)? Do the rates dependent on what sum you buy (i.e., can you get a better rate with a larger purchase)? Correct; over a week or so, you could be behind a very small amount if rates climb. However, you'll eventually get the return you bought at the agreed upon date. So, risk really is minimal. Yes; fairly straight forward to buy bonds at Fidelity. You'll get the same rate. The differences are mostly duration and coupon. Buying is odd though since you the price you pay is discounted and quoted out to 6 digits or so. Nice thing about Fidelity is that they have an automatic roll over function. Not all brokers have that.
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Post by anitya on Dec 3, 2022 20:42:08 GMT
chang, Call up your Fidelity team and ask them to put you in touch with their preferred person at the fixed income desk, who should walk you through on how to use their platform. If you have questions after that, send me a PM. Thanks.
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Post by roi2020 on Dec 3, 2022 21:15:49 GMT
At Fidelity, 3 Month T-Bills are yielding 4.39% while agencies are 4.48% The only thing is ... MM rates have been going up daily. After 3-6-12 months, will they be higher than the T-Bill rate that I can lock in now. Another question: I've never bought treasury bonds through Fidelity. Is it fairly straightforward (assuming I plan to hold them to maturity)? Do the rates dependent on what sum you buy (i.e., can you get a better rate with a larger purchase)? chang ,
Harry Sit wrote an article which lists the steps for purchasing T-Bills and T-Notes via various brokers (Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, etc.) I've purchased Treasuries via Vanguard but have no relevant experience with Fidelity. Link
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 6:59:26 GMT
Thanks roi2020, that is a very helpful link! Thanks anitya, though phoning Fidelity from overseas (where they don’t have a toll free number) is a hassle and I generally use secure messages to communicate. Edit: roi2020 I’ve read through the article completely, it’s excellent. Couldn’t be clearer, including the link to the Govt’s calendar for announcements and auctions.
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 8:41:03 GMT
So now, what may be a stupid question. How is it possible that an ETF like SHY or VGSH could yield less than the Treasury bonds it holds (ignoring the minscule ER)? There seems to be a lot of confusion here (maybe only mine). Treasury rates are here home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202212Note the 2yr rate is 4.25%.SHY is a 1-3 year Treasury ETF, with effective duration 1.89 years. www.ishares.com/us/products/239452/ishares-13-year-treasury-bond-etfIts 30-day SEC yield is 4.44%. But many people seem to be dumping all over the 30D SEC yield as "unreliable". The TTM yield is 1.12%. That number I think I can safely ignore, because yields have been rising rapidly over the last 12 months. BUT the recent December 2 distribution was $0.165441 with an NAV of $81.37. Multiplying by 12, that works out to a hypothetical yield of 1.98/81.37 = 2.44%, which is a far cry from 4.44%.So, yeah, I don't know what's going on here. Will buying new-issue Treasuries directly in my brokerage account really deliver significantly higher interest rates than SHY or VGSH?
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Post by anovice on Dec 4, 2022 9:41:06 GMT
The only thing is ... MM rates have been going up daily. After 3-6-12 months, will they be higher than the T-Bill rate that I can lock in now. Another question: I've never bought treasury bonds through Fidelity. Is it fairly straightforward (assuming I plan to hold them to maturity)? Do the rates dependent on what sum you buy (i.e., can you get a better rate with a larger purchase)? chang ,
Harry Sit wrote an article which lists the steps for purchasing T-Bills and T-Notes via various brokers (Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, etc.) I've purchased Treasuries via Vanguard but have no relevant experience with Fidelity. LinkA good long running thread on Bogleheads. www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=378350&start=2150
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Post by mnfish on Dec 4, 2022 11:31:18 GMT
chang \chang - "SHY is a 1-3 year Treasury ETF, with effective duration 1.89 years." I'm as far from a bond expert as it gets but maybe this helps - from Investopedia "Effective duration calculates the expected price decline of a bond when interest rates rise by 1%. The value of the effective duration will always be lower than the maturity of the bond." "For example, if existing interest rates were 10% and a callable bond was paying a coupon of 6%, the callable bond would behave like an option-free bond because it would not be optimal for the company to call the bond and re-issue it at a higher interest rate." In Re to SHY - you can look at a spreadsheet (link) of their holdings. I noticed that of the top 5 holdings only 1 had a coupon of 4.5% maturing in 2025. The other 4 all had coupons of 1.5%, .63%, .25% and .88% which were all maturing in 2024. Now, find a bond guy to interpret that into effective duration because I have no idea.
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Post by fishingrod on Dec 4, 2022 12:40:46 GMT
So now, what may be a stupid question. How is it possible that an ETF like SHY or VGSH could yield less than the Treasury bonds it holds (ignoring the minscule ER)? There seems to be a lot of confusion here (maybe only mine). Treasury rates are here home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202212Note the 2yr rate is 4.25%.SHY is a 1-3 year Treasury ETF, with effective duration 1.89 years. www.ishares.com/us/products/239452/ishares-13-year-treasury-bond-etfIts 30-day SEC yield is 4.44%. But many people seem to be dumping all over the 30D SEC yield as "unreliable". The TTM yield is 1.12%. That number I think I can safely ignore, because yields have been rising rapidly over the last 12 months. BUT the recent December 2 distribution was $0.165441 with an NAV of $81.37. Multiplying by 12, that works out to a hypothetical yield of 1.98/81.37 = 2.44%, which is a far cry from 4.44%.So, yeah, I don't know what's going on here. Will buying new-issue Treasuries directly in my brokerage account really deliver significantly higher interest rates than SHY or VGSH?This will be confusing.
T-Bills are sold at a discount price and then are redeemed at maturity at par. So for instance you buy it at $99 and it matures at $100.
Also the Bills and Notes inside the ETF are priced with a discount or a premium, depending on the direction of rates rising or falling and current rates. Right now since we are in a rising interest rate environment, the Bills and Notes inside the ETF are discounted to match and reflect the current interest rate environment. So as bonds inside the ETF age and come closer to maturity they move closer and closer to par, moving the NAV of the fund. Remember the inverse relationship with bonds, lower price equals higher interest/capital appreciation at maturity and vice-versa, NOT coupon, it stays the same.
In order for the coupon rate, current yield, and yield to maturity to be the same, the bond’s price upon purchase must be equal to its par value.
So if you want the current rates of newly issued bonds without the NAV movement and constantly changing prices of a fund then buy an individual Treasury and hold to maturity. It's price will still fluctuate but you are guaranteed to get it's yield regardless of the direction of interest rates as long as you hold to maturity.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2022 12:52:39 GMT
So now, what may be a stupid question. How is it possible that an ETF like SHY or VGSH could yield less than the Treasury bonds it holds (ignoring the minscule ER)? There seems to be a lot of confusion here (maybe only mine). Treasury rates are here home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202212Note the 2yr rate is 4.25%.SHY is a 1-3 year Treasury ETF, with effective duration 1.89 years. www.ishares.com/us/products/239452/ishares-13-year-treasury-bond-etfIts 30-day SEC yield is 4.44%. But many people seem to be dumping all over the 30D SEC yield as "unreliable". The TTM yield is 1.12%. That number I think I can safely ignore, because yields have been rising rapidly over the last 12 months. BUT the recent December 2 distribution was $0.165441 with an NAV of $81.37. Multiplying by 12, that works out to a hypothetical yield of 1.98/81.37 = 2.44%, which is a far cry from 4.44%.So, yeah, I don't know what's going on here. Will buying new-issue Treasuries directly in my brokerage account really deliver significantly higher interest rates than SHY or VGSH?Regarding the calculation in green font - the NAV is reduced by the distribution amount each time. Replacing bonds in the portfolio also affects the NAV, so all this is just crude estimates, like the bond rule of thumb. Some operating expenses not included in the ER but reduce the NAV, so buying new issue treasuries eliminates the friction of a fund.
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Post by fishingrod on Dec 4, 2022 13:21:08 GMT
The SEC yield is only a tool to compare funds. Use it like a static snapshot of the fund. If one was able to hold the individual bonds inside the fund until all the bonds matured and went to par then the SEC yield is what the fund would likely yield upon maturity, or a close approximation of it.
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 13:40:12 GMT
There’s another thing. Yields right now are maximum at about 9 months duration. There ARE no short term ETFs with durations that short … SHY and VGSH are at around 2 years. So perhaps I really can maximize income by holding actual T-bills.
Of course, MMs and ETFs offer instant liquidity. Although… I suppose I could always sell a T-bill on the secondary market, but I have to be ready for a possible NAV loss.
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Post by yogibearbull on Dec 4, 2022 13:53:13 GMT
Rates have been moving FAST - some say among the fastest in the history. So, m-mkt and bond funds will catch up with some LAG related to their portfolio duration. (It works in the reverse for falling rates)
For T-Bills/Notes held to maturity, the rates/TRs lock in at the time of purchase (the YTM is known, so WYSIWYG), and there is no need to do calculations for distribution yield, current yield, 30-day SEC yield (a rather complex calculation).
A peculiarity of T-Bills, that are sold at discount to par, is that they are taxed only in the year of maturity. Not so for T-Notes/Bonds where the interest is taxed annually.
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Post by fishingrod on Dec 4, 2022 14:15:50 GMT
There’s another thing. Yields right now are maximum at about 9 months duration. There ARE no short term ETFs with durations that short … SHY and VGSH are at around 2 years. So perhaps I really can maximize income by holding actual T-bills. Of course, MMs and ETFs offer instant liquidity. Although… I suppose I could always sell a T-bill on the secondary market, but I have to be ready for a possible NAV loss.
VUSB- duration .91 yrs.
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Post by FD1000 on Dec 4, 2022 14:47:55 GMT
One option that left out in this thread is RPHIX, it's closed but Chang owns it. RPHIX is a unique fund we discussed already, the best risk/reward ST bond. Nothing comes close. The chart goes up pretty smoothly for one year with 2.9% performance + duration=0.4-0.5 year. In the last one month it made 0.75%. RPHIX monthly dist fluctuate. They were 0.015 in January, climb to 0.025 and back to 0.022. The usual, disregard how high are the monthly dist and concentrate on TR. Stockchart has VMFXX(VG MM) that pays 3.7%(close enough to FZDXX 3.8). Looking at 1-3-6-12 months chart shows how RPHIX was better with minimum SD. Unfortunately, the fund is closed. If it was open I would use it when I was in MM for months. RPHIX has it all: liquidity + better performance than MM + extremely low SD. See 3 months ( chart) of VMFXX+RPHIX. You can change to 1-6-12 months. See below charts + monthly dist of RPHIX. Finally, that's the beauty of managed funds, it takes just one fund to break all the rules...and then it goes away, and you may find another one. ======== I always look at a "bad" situation, just in case. A possible scenario: Fed increase rate another 0.5-1%, MM goes up = fine. On the other hand, you bought CD/Trs, you are locked If markets go down 10-20% and now you want to buy stocks, if you want to sell your CD/Trs, you will get less than what you paid because rates were up. I always like flexibility.
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 15:43:15 GMT
MM yields have overtaken RPHIX’s (see related thread in this forum), that’s why I sold RPHIX. It was the best rock in the world to hide under for the last two years, but I think it’s time to move on. Of course, I will always keep a foothold.
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 15:45:08 GMT
fishingrod VUSB/VUSFX, like most of the USTB category, is a different animal: little/no A-rated bonds, all corps, and lots of BBB. Hence, some serious recession risk.
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Post by FD1000 on Dec 4, 2022 16:07:27 GMT
MM yields have overtaken RPHIX’s (see related thread in this forum), that’s why I sold RPHIX. It was the best rock in the world to hide under for the last two years, but I think it’s time to move on. Of course, I will always keep a foothold. I looked at that thread and YIELD is only one part of the equation of TR. RPHIX made 0.75% for one month and MM made only 0.3%. You also mentioned in that thread FNSOX. That is a much riskier bond fund that lost 7% at the bottom. I don't see any fund with similar low SD as RPHIX + better performance. I can find plenty of bond fund that beat RPHIX in the last one month but with higher SD. I don't see how MM will beat RPHIX in the next 1-2-3 months, time will tell.
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Post by fishingrod on Dec 4, 2022 16:29:35 GMT
fishingrod VUSB/VUSFX, like most of the USTB category, is a different animal: little/no A-rated bonds, all corps, and lots of BBB. Hence, some serious recession risk. You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
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Post by chang on Dec 4, 2022 18:21:37 GMT
fishingrod VUSB/VUSFX, like most of the USTB category, is a different animal: little/no A-rated bonds, all corps, and lots of BBB. Hence, some serious recession risk. You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
Thanks. My bad mistake in saying no A-rated bonds; that’s completely wrong. I have owned VUSFX in the past and with success. I will be sure to look at this again… the ETF is probably too illiquid for a large purchase; I would probably opt for the OEF again.
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Post by FD1000 on Dec 4, 2022 21:43:09 GMT
fishingrod VUSB/VUSFX, like most of the USTB category, is a different animal: little/no A-rated bonds, all corps, and lots of BBB. Hence, some serious recession risk. You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
Rating, quality and most other stuff matters mostly in crisis. We are not in crisis anymore and why the latest 6-12 months risk/reward matters a lot more. But, even with the crisis we had, RPHIX still did better. I will come back every month in the next 3 months to prove my point...MM vs RPHIX.
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Post by habsui on Dec 4, 2022 22:32:43 GMT
You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
Rating, quality and most other stuff matters mostly in crisis. We are not in crisis anymore and why the latest 6-12 months risk/reward matters a lot more. But, even with the crisis we had, RPHIX still did better. I will come back every month in the next 3 months to prove my point...MM vs RPHIX. Please clarify the point first. If you think you can get better returns than MM by increasing (credit) risk, that can happen. But then why stop there. RPHIX made some cap gains due to rates backing off a bit recently. If one believes this will continue, then obviously the better money will be made somewhere else. But if one wants to increase credit quality while getting good returns, MM are not a bad place (for now).
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Post by FD1000 on Dec 4, 2022 22:39:50 GMT
Rating, quality and most other stuff matters mostly in crisis. We are not in crisis anymore and why the latest 6-12 months risk/reward matters a lot more. But, even with the crisis we had, RPHIX still did better. I will come back every month in the next 3 months to prove my point...MM vs RPHIX. Please clarify the point first. If you think you can get better returns than MM by increasing (credit) risk, that can happen. But then why stop there. RPHIX made some cap gains due to rates backing off a bit recently. If one believes this will continue, then obviously the better money will be made somewhere else. But if one wants to increase credit quality while getting good returns, MM are not a bad place (for now).
This later discussion is about very low risk of MM,CD,Treasury. RPHIX is the only other option that had low SD in the last one year + made money + will make more than MM in the next several months IMO. For higher risk/reward, I posted already prior what to do. That is why I'm back to be fully invested at 99%, which is the first time since early 2022 when I sold everything.
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Post by habsui on Dec 4, 2022 22:47:06 GMT
Please clarify the point first. If you think you can get better returns than MM by increasing (credit) risk, that can happen. But then why stop there. RPHIX made some cap gains due to rates backing off a bit recently. If one believes this will continue, then obviously the better money will be made somewhere else. But if one wants to increase credit quality while getting good returns, MM are not a bad place (for now).
This later discussion is about very low risk of MM,CD,Treasury. RPHIX is the only other option that had low SD in the last one year + made money + will make more than MM in the next several months IMO. For higher risk/reward, I posted already prior to that. That is why I'm back to be fully invested at 99%, which is first time since early 2022. Fair enough. If you consider RPHIX to be in the same class than MM, I can't help you. I will promise not to come back to the same point every 3 months.
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Post by steadyeddy on Dec 6, 2022 2:56:14 GMT
You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
Rating, quality and most other stuff matters mostly in crisis. We are not in crisis anymore and why the latest 6-12 months risk/reward matters a lot more. But, even with the crisis we had, RPHIX still did better. I will come back every month in the next 3 months to prove my point...MM vs RPHIX. Predictions are difficult, especially about the future 😁
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Post by Chahta on Dec 6, 2022 14:34:03 GMT
fishingrod VUSB/VUSFX, like most of the USTB category, is a different animal: little/no A-rated bonds, all corps, and lots of BBB. Hence, some serious recession risk. You went from RPHIX with over 65% rated non investment grade and 35% non rated, and no A or above bonds. Do you now want AAA rated Treasury bond fund?
Vanguard is known for being conservative. VUSB is still considered a quality investment grade fund, with over 65% rated A and above. Nothing below BBB
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just musing. Maybe you could have both a AAA rated Treasury fund and something else?
You would need to follow RPHIX and hear from the PM why the ratings are what they are. They are mostly end of life bonds for companies rolling over into new borrowings. They are not poor-quality investments. The companies have a proven payment history. But once in a while they can buy a clunker.
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Post by retiredat48 on Dec 6, 2022 18:28:37 GMT
So now, what may be a stupid question. How is it possible that an ETF like SHY or VGSH could yield less than the Treasury bonds it holds (ignoring the minscule ER)? There seems to be a lot of confusion here (maybe only mine). Treasury rates are here home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202212Note the 2yr rate is 4.25%.SHY is a 1-3 year Treasury ETF, with effective duration 1.89 years. www.ishares.com/us/products/239452/ishares-13-year-treasury-bond-etfIts 30-day SEC yield is 4.44%. But many people seem to be dumping all over the 30D SEC yield as "unreliable". The TTM yield is 1.12%. That number I think I can safely ignore, because yields have been rising rapidly over the last 12 months. BUT the recent December 2 distribution was $0.165441 with an NAV of $81.37. Multiplying by 12, that works out to a hypothetical yield of 1.98/81.37 = 2.44%, which is a far cry from 4.44%.So, yeah, I don't know what's going on here. Will buying new-issue Treasuries directly in my brokerage account really deliver significantly higher interest rates than SHY or VGSH?This will be confusing.
T-Bills are sold at a discount price and then are redeemed at maturity at par. So for instance you buy it at $99 and it matures at $100.
Also the Bills and Notes inside the ETF are priced with a discount or a premium, depending on the direction of rates rising or falling and current rates. Right now since we are in a rising interest rate environment, the Bills and Notes inside the ETF are discounted to match and reflect the current interest rate environment. So as bonds inside the ETF age and come closer to maturity they move closer and closer to par, moving the NAV of the fund. Remember the inverse relationship with bonds, lower price equals higher interest/capital appreciation at maturity and vice-versa, NOT coupon, it stays the same.
In order for the coupon rate, current yield, and yield to maturity to be the same, the bond’s price upon purchase must be equal to its par value.
So if you want the current rates of newly issued bonds without the NAV movement and constantly changing prices of a fund then buy an individual Treasury and hold to maturity. It's price will still fluctuate but you are guaranteed to get it's yield regardless of the direction of interest rates as long as you hold to maturity.
at chang , fishingrod ,...I'm getting discouraged Chang if you do not yet "get it" that cap gains built into bond funds are ACCRUED daily into the nav prices. Read elsewhere my example of a zero coupon treasury bond...no distributions; all cap gains at maturity. Fishingrod has it exactly right. And the SEC yield tries to show the investor the expected total returns. BTW for the last decade up to a year ago, most bond funds had underlying bonds trading over par...premiums...thus a built in capital loss (extracted in January). Now most bond funds have a built in cap gain...bonds selling below maturity values. This is good for bond investors. And buy FI CEFs at a discount, you further enhance yields/total returns. Buy leveraged FI CEFs and you may zoom up some day. Oh, that would be PDO and PDI! R48
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Post by chang on Dec 6, 2022 18:53:41 GMT
Thanks retiredat48 … yes, I do get it, thanks. As I mentioned before, I want bonds for income and ballast. I’m not looking to time the bond market, buy oversold bonds, or look for value. I can do all of those things with equities much more efficiently and effectively, especially with much greater transparency and ability to evaluate the companies.
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Post by Chahta on Dec 6, 2022 21:37:07 GMT
retiredat48, good post. I am currently rebuilding my bond holdings. At some point there will be some nice CGs.
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Post by FD1000 on Dec 7, 2022 4:57:48 GMT
R48, I'm not trying to be difficult but the explanation doesn't make you the best money, or have better risk/reward. Several examples: 1) CEFs have been a pretty bad investment in the last 3-5 years. I also posted that finally, I like CEFs. 2) We had a long thread about the 2 years treasury and everything under the sun...and it still lost money, while MM,CD/Treasury made money. 3) In 2021, every expert said that bond are bad. It was MOSTLY true, but HY munis had a very nice performance. 4) There were others, but I will stop here I read many posts by many bond experts over the years, I just want to make more money with lower risk/SD in bonds. So circling back. At the beginning of 2022, I posted that I'm staying out of bonds and I kept posting they are a bad choice. I changed my mind at the beginning of Nov. and think that IT-LT is the way to go. This was simply based on 1) The Fed blinked 2) Bond funds had one of the biggest loss in decades 3) the charts confirmed it. That was just common sense. We are now about a month after my OP and IT-LT bond returns exploded. The intention of this thread isn't to discuss MM and it's subs, especially now. Sure, you can still use all these options, but it's time to look for better performance. Even in ST, compare VGSH(ST treasuries) to SHM(ST IG Munis). SHM made twice the money with lower SD, especially losing volatility. I don't need to know any par, CG, SEC or yield. See the chart below BTW, I always leave the possibility that markets can change. Attachments:
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