iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

HYG

Valor de mercado US$ 17,8 bi

Bonds are paying the best yields in years and still dragging portfolios into the red, leaving investors scrambling for a defensive asset that actually defends. A growing group of Wall Street managers thinks the answer involves shorting Treasuries outright.

U.S. bond yields are rising, providing an increasingly attractive alternative to pricey stocks. Trump's unorthodox policy may be causing this trend to accelerate.

Holding a high-yield bond ETF in a taxable account can leave you owing the IRS far more than you actually earned, and most investors never notice until they see the 1099.

Trading activity on the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace reached EUR 69 billion in September, the second-highest level recorded for the month. Six of the ten most actively traded ETFs in September were equity-based, with two gold ETCs and two short-dated fixed income funds making up the remainder. Total consolidated U.S. ETF notional value traded in September reached USD 122 billion, up 52% year-over-year.

Long-duration Treasuries finally offer an enticing yield, but several less obvious risks could undermine both the income and the hedge. Covered call ETFs share more with fixed income than most investors realize, and today's environment is paying them more for that role. The biggest, most popular covered call funds may fail exactly when defense is needed most.

The global competition for capital remains the key dynamic keeping yields elevated. Notably, all of the September increase in 10-year Treasury yields came from real yields, as implied by the TIPS market.

Japan, Europe, and the U.S. were feeling the fallout from France, where yields on its benchmark 10-year note climbed closer to 5%, the highest since 2002.

BND has lost ground in price for five years straight, yet something has quietly shifted inside the fund that changes what the next five years could look like for anyone holding it today.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Supply chains that transform crude into fuel are still under siege, and that is keeping prices high—helping drive a brutal bond selloff.