(PUB) Investing 2015
21
September 2015
Morningstar FundInvestor
Bond-Market Snapshot
Treasury Yield Curve ( % )
Yield to maturity of current bills, notes, and bonds
p Current ( 08-31-15 )
p One Year Ago ( 08-29-14 )
Interest-Rate Review The U.S. bond market was little changed in August as most of the action was in equities. However, emerging-markets bonds sold off along with stocks. Slow growth in China and a possible delay in a Fed rate hike led to a tumble in the JPM GBI Emerging Markets Global Composite of 13.73% for the year to date. Despite poor per- formance across most asset taxable bonds in August, the Barclays High Yield Municipal Index gained 0.41%.
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
p Vanguard Interm-Term Tax-Exempt p Vanguard Interm-Term U.S. Treasury
Municipal-Bond Spread Snapshot
7.00
Unattractive 1.73
-0.34
Aug. 31, 2015
6.50
High
1.73
5.00
Low
-1.83
4.50
Average
0.09
3.00
08-31-15
Last Month (07-31-15)
-0.30
1.50
A Year Ago (08-29-14)
-0.12
0.00
Attractive -1.83
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
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
4.16
Attractive 10.71
Aug. 31, 2015
12.00
High
10.71
9.00
Low
2.01
Average
3.99
6.00
08-31-15
Last Month (07-31-15)
3.70
3.00
A Year Ago (08-29-14)
2.86
0.00
Unattractive 2.01
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
Data as of Aug. 31, 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.
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