The yield on a closely watched index of 30-year triple-A rated, tax-exempt municipal securities climbed 0.12 percentage point higher to close at 4.48% Tuesday, according to Municipal Market Data.
In that light, a negative yield of 0.55% on index-linked bonds seems a good investment.
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The underlying Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index has a current yield of 6.56%.
The Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund has a yield to maturity of 1.6%, scarcely enough to keep up with inflation.
The lower average rating and longer maturity range of the Vanguard index give the fund a higher yield, risk and volatility.
The WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Index ( DXJ) has a current yield of 1.85%, trades an average of 176, 000 per day, and has an expense ratio of 0.48%.
The FTSE Nareit Americas REIT Index, by comparison, has a current yield of 2.9%.
That compares with the 2.66% yield of the Barclays Global Treasury Universal index, a composite of treasury markets across the world with heavier weightings for larger countries.
Two popular funds are the Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (amex: DVY - news - people ), with a 2.95% yield, and the PowerShares Dividend Achievers 50 Index (amex: PEY - news - people ), with a 2.94% yield.
Consider that the double-B subset of the Barclays High-Yield Index, at 4.33% on Tuesday, is nearly a full percentage point lower than where it stood at the beginning of September and is down roughly 175 bps from levels a year ago.
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Many index-linked bonds in America and Britain are trading on a negative real yield.
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The average credit rating of a typical High Yield Corporate bond portfolio is higher than that of the Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index.
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Chart Analysis : The iShares MSCI France Index ( EWQ) has 50% in its Top Ten holdings, a yield of 3.2%, and an expense ratio of 0.52%.
The iShares Morningstar Multi-Asset Income Index Fund ( IYLD) is a good choice that has a 4.7% yield and holds ten other income ETFs, invested in things like junk bonds, dollar-denominated emerging market bonds, Treasurys and dividend stocks.
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