{"id":4481,"date":"2010-10-28T09:07:05","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T13:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=4481"},"modified":"2010-10-28T09:12:26","modified_gmt":"2010-10-28T13:12:26","slug":"bonds-have-boomed-what-does-it-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=4481","title":{"rendered":"Bonds have boomed. What does it mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Anyone who bought bonds in the last few years is staring at a nice potential gain. If the bonds were equity, the sound logic would be &#8220;to take some money off the table.&#8221; But bonds pay interest (the rent, and the food) &#8212; the reason you bought them in the first place. Hence selling them makes little sense.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In recent years bonds have boomed because of the publicity over &#8220;T<em>he Lost Decade in Equities<\/em>.&#8221; (From 1999 to 2009, the S&amp;P lost ground.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Below is a chart showing flows into bonds. If this equity rally continues, fund flow could reverse and pump more money into equities, reinforcing our present little boom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Scott Minerd, chief investorment  officer of\u00a0 Guggenheim Parters has just written a long piece,\u00a0 <em>The Urban Legend of the Bond Bubble<\/em>. His conclusion:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">My purpose in writing this piece was to debunk the urban legend of a bond bubble. I believe stocks are cheap in the current environment and should provide annualized returns in the neighborhood of 7 to 10 percent over the next decade. When Treasuries were at 4.0 percent in April, I advocated adding to positions. Today, at 2.5 percent, I don\u2019t recommend loading up on Treasuries, even though I believe rates will continue to fall to 2.0 percent or possibly lower.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">In general, the main opportunity for investors today is to take advantage of the rising tide of liquidity that will lift asset prices in stocks, bonds, and commodities and will not be immediately inflationary.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">His words have implications: Don&#8217;t buy the TBT. Be wary of getting into bonds today. Yields are too low &#8212; unless you fluke a cheap bond. Equities with a decent (and rising) dividend yield look more interesting. I added a couple of interesting names on the chart on the right, including Netflix, which is being pushed up by a small float and lots of shorts having to cover. It&#8217;s way overpriced. Keep your stops ultra-tight.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You can read Scott Minerd&#8217;s entire piece. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Guggenheim.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>How bonds to to be ridiculously expensive compared to stocks.<\/strong><\/span> From Business Insider:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Bonds2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4487\" title=\"Bonds2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Bonds2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"607\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Bonds2.jpg 607w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Bonds2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here are Business Insider&#8217;s words:<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Jeremy Grantham said in his latest quarterly lettter that bonds are now overvalued relative to stocks. He generally prefers U.S. quality companies over bonds. Here&#8217;s a potential reason why markets have reached this point.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Despite the recent stock market rally, whereby September was the best  month in seven decades, U.S. domestic stock funds are still bleeding  investor assets.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Latest fund flow data from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ici.org\/\">Investment Company Institute<\/a> (ICI) shows how U.S. stock funds&#8217; flows have continued to be negative,  even during the first two weeks of October, as they have been for most  of the year. Fund flows for U.S. equity funds were net-negative in 2008,  2009, and now have been the same for 2010 thus far.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Below we show the cumulative effect of this, since the beginning of   2008.\u00a0 Cumulative fund flows over the period equaled -$245.8  billion  based on ICI data, as shown in red.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Meanwhile, fund flows into bond funds have continued to be positive  this year. Cumulative flows for bond funds since the beginning fo 2008  have equaled +$632.15 billion, as shown in gray.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">So despite any sense in the market right now that investors are   starting  to get too bullish, ICI data at least  paints a different   picture &#8212;  Investors as a whole continue to pare  back their equity   mutual funds and  deploy additional money into bond  funds. More of the   same pessimism  towards stocks and love for bonds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Just note that the data below doesn&#8217;t include ETFs, where fund flows for U.S. domestic stock ETFs went<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/chart-of-the-day-cash-flows-etfs-2010-10\"> positive recently.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/EFTS.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4489\" title=\"EFTS\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/EFTS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"607\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/EFTS.jpg 607w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/EFTS-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">So maybe we&#8217;ll soon see the fund flows go positive in a meaningful way    for domestic stock mutual funds, but it doesn&#8217;t appear to have  happened   yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Why Anne Newton&#8217;s father&#8217;s email suddenly stopped working.<\/strong><\/span> A true story.  From Anne:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">&#8220;I talked to my dad last night. He dropped his phone in the toilet. He had to change his email address.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Toilet2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4482\" title=\"Toilet2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Toilet2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Toilet2.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Toilet2-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">BlackBerry fatal attraction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>He&#8217;s 93 and plays tennis three times a week.<\/strong><\/span> Taken yesterday in the locker room with my trusty iPhone 4.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/93half.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4486\" title=\"93half\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/93half.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/93half.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/93half-223x300.jpg 223w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Modern weddings.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nJacob, age 92, and Rebecca, age 89, are all excited about their decision to get married. They go for a stroll to discuss the wedding, and on the way they pass a drugstore. Jacob suggests they go in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob addresses the man behind the counter: &#8220;Are you the owner?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The pharmacist answers, &#8220;Yes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;We&#8217;re about to get married. Do you sell heart medication?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;Of course we do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;How about medicine for circulation?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;All kinds&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;Medicine for rheumatism?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;Definitely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;How about suppositories?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;You bet!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;Medicine for memory problems, arthritis, and Alzheimer&#8217;s?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;Yes, a large variety; the works.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;What about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol, antidotes for Parkinson\u2019s disease?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;Absolutely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;Everything for heartburn and indigestion?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;We sure do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;You sell wheelchairs and walkers and canes?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;All speeds and sizes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;Adult diapers?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pharmacist: &#8220;Sure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jacob: &#8220;We&#8217;d like to use this store as our Bridal Registry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/93.jpg\"><strong> <\/strong><\/a><strong><a href=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HarryNewtonNewShot2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"HarryNewtonNewShot\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HarryNewtonNewShot2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"125\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Harry Newton who is staggered at how beautiful the weather has recently been in New York City. It was 68 in Columbus Circle at 10 PM last night. The fountains were on. Lovers were strolling. People were friendly, happy and relaxed. Most un-New York. Amazing:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/ColumbusSquare.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4494\" title=\"ColumbusSquare\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/ColumbusSquare.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/ColumbusSquare.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/ColumbusSquare-300x223.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anyone who bought bonds in the last few years is staring at a nice potential gain. If the bonds were equity, the sound logic would be &#8220;to take some money off the table.&#8221; But bonds pay interest (the rent, and the food) &#8212; the reason you bought them in the first place. Hence selling them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}