good old days

[ducky911]

I find myself missing the good old days...when stocks would go down bonds would go up.

 

[GrayHare]

Since we're still below 5% on the 10 year, that behavior should return soon.

 

[sengsational]

Me too. But I've moved on. I went into the stable value fund with my "bonds" allocation.

Seems like since everything went down together in 2008, nobody wants to hang onto bonds given any bump in the road. They all bail out to cash. That means there are a lot of sellers of bonds, pushing the prices down. And bond funds always seemed like a dumb idea to me. Holding the bond yourself, you decide whether to sell into a crappy market, but with a bond fund, when the sheep all decide to sell at the most inane time, the buy and hold guy takes a bath because of the sheep.

 

[EllisWyatt]

Or, if you buy individual bands, you could have bought GM in 2007 as I did. Had a great yield.....for a while. Live and learn.

 

[sengsational]

Or, if you buy individual bands, you could have bought GM in 2007 as I did. Had a great yield.....for a while. Live and learn.

I never "got it" when my Dad would walk out the door, heading to the bank with a coupon in his hand, and thank a president that had not been in office for many years. But yeah, holding bonds yourself can be mighty profitable if you get in at the right time.