(PUB) Investing 2015
August 2015
Morningstar FundInvestor
21
Bond-Market Snapshot
Treasury Yield Curve ( % )
Yield to maturity of current bills, notes, and bonds
p Current ( 07-31-15 )
p One Year Ago ( 07-31-14 )
Interest-Rate Review The long end of the yield curve flattened in July. The Barclays Long US Treasuries Index gained 3.5%, following a stretch of losses for the previous three months. Investment-grade corporate bonds gained less than 1%, but high-yield bonds had slight losses. The Barclays Intermediate Municipal and Long Municipal Bond indexes returned 0.63% and 1.06%, respectively. Emerging markets, stoked by concerns over the Greek debt crisis and a strengthening dollar, lost about 3%.
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
Maturity
1 mo 3
6
1 yr
2
3
5
7
10
20
30
Treasury and Municipal-Bond Yields
Municipal-Bond Spread Snapshot Unattractive 1.73
p Vanguard Interm-Term Tax-Exempt p Vanguard Interm-Term U.S. Treasury
7.00
-0.30
July 31, 2015
6.50
High
1.73
5.00
Low
-1.83
4.50
Average
0.10
3.00
07-31-15
Last Month (06-30-15)
-0.31
1.50
A Year Ago (07-31-14)
-0.17
0.00
Attractive -1.83
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
High-Yield and Treasury-Bond Yields
p Vanguard High-Yield Corporate p Vanguard Interm-Term U.S. Treasury
High-Yield Bond Spread Snapshot
15.00
3.70
Attractive 10.71
July 31, 2015
12.00
High
10.71
9.00
Low
2.01
Average
3.99
6.00
Last Month (06-30-15)
3.52
3.00
07-31-15
A Year Ago (07-31-14)
2.62
0.00
Unattractive 2.01
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
Data as of July 3 1, 2015 . Yield Spread: The difference between yields on differing debt instruments, calculated by deducting the yield of one instrument from another. The higher the yield spread, the greater the difference between the yields offered by each instrument. For municipal bonds, a smaller spread is attractive because munis typically pay smaller yields than Treasuries. For high-yield bonds, a wider spread is more attractive because junk bonds typically pay higher yields than Treasuries.
Made with FlippingBook