On the other hand, continued large investment gains helped 12 charities generate a negative index number--surpluses exceeding all donations for the reporting year.

FORBES: Personal Finance

Price returns for the Barclays Municipal 10-year Index were negative seven out of 13 years.

FORBES: Muni Bond Manager's Journal: Coupon Power Compounded

In that light, a negative yield of 0.55% on index-linked bonds seems a good investment.

ECONOMIST: A very unusual sign of confidence in economic policy

Caterpillar, one of only two names in the 30-stock Dow in negative territory for the year, led the index higher Tuesday with an 1.7% gain.

FORBES: Street Keeps Climbing, S&P 500 Rallies To Record Close

Many index-linked bonds in America and Britain are trading on a negative real yield.

ECONOMIST: The remarkable demand for low-yielding government bonds

The BoJ's own recent forecasts predicted that the year-on-year change in the consumer price index excluding fresh food would be negative this year, next year and in 2011.

ECONOMIST: Is Japan back in a deflationary trap?

The general business conditions index fell four points to -7.7, its third consecutive negative reading.

FORBES: No Double Dip Recession, But Companies Wary

The Empire State manufacturing index released by the New York Federal Reserve showed a reading of (negative)- 7.8 for June, compared with expectations for a positive 12.

FORBES: Weakening Consumer And Manufacturing In U.S. Dishearten Markets

The dollar index bulls have gained fresh upside near-term technical momentum recently, and that is a negative for the precious metals bulls.

FORBES: Comex Gold Sharply Lower, At 7-Week Low, As More Near-Term Chart Damage Inflicted