iShares Barclays 3-7 Year Treasury Bond Fund (ETF)

• Why Treasury Funds Are Dangerous

  By Timothy Green - March 28, 2013 | Tickers: SHY, TLT, IEI, IEF

  Over the past 30 years or so US treasury bond yields have been in an almost constant decline. Since bond yields and bond prices move in opposite directions this decline has led to ever-increasing bond prices and a multi-decade bull market in bonds.

  30-Year Treasury Bond Yield data by YCharts

  But what happens if interest rates begin to rise again? Clearly bond prices would decline, but by how much? Warren more »

• The Emergence of Emerging Market Bonds

  By Peter Pham - September 7, 2012 | Tickers: FXE, TLT, IEI, EMB, PCY

  One of the advantages of working in a frontier market like Vietnam is that one can see first-hand the growth that is occurring here.  It also gives you a sobering look at the amount of potential risk you face as well.  While equity markets locally are often thinly traded and extremely volatile, bonds offer a completely different way to play the growth story of an up-and-coming country, without having to more »

• The Updated Barbell Strategy

  By Jeff Stouffer - August 27, 2012 | Tickers: SHY, IEI, IEF

  Financial advisors and investors of fixed income strategies have for a very long time used a tried and tested method to “immunize” or protect a fixed income portfolio from interest rate changes.

  The Barbell Strategy basically has a portion of assets held in bonds that are of a certain credit quality placed between a portion that has a short term maturity and a portion that has a long term maturity more »