Fed Notes by the Number

...and with continued apologies to Ray Price,

"Troubles by the score...".


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Stocks scared us witless, so we took our serious money out of equities and parked it in good old gummint bonds. I mean, they're guarandamnteed by the feds, right?"


Yes, Ben warrants the fed numbers, but neither he nor Tim nor Barack will touch the question of what your bond proceeds will buy. The private money gurus are increasingly at pains to point that out, almost as a matter of daily routine.  For instance:

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, billions of dollars poured from equity and mutual funds into so-called “safer” municipal and Treasury bond funds. But, as the economy improves, these bond funds aren’t looking like such hot investment anymore.

Two reasons to be wary about bonds now is the inevitability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and the growing likelihood that some states may default on their debt.


Find what irony you will in another of Stacy's observations:


And, if you’re looking for an alternative bond investment, Lyndon points to corporate and utility bonds, which he feels, are “safer than treasuries and munis these days.”


That is, while the Government of His Obamaness and all of his plans for your prosperity are so much unicorn methane, that evil ol' private sector might just hand you a gas mask.   


(I'll pass for now on commenting on that sentence about muni default. It's just too depressing. Besides, I don't own any  bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the California Commission on Condor Restoration.   Illinois, either.)