High-quality U.S. bonds have lost more than 10 percent so far this year, as of Monday, on pace for one of their worst years in history. The investors feeling it the most are the very ones who invest conservatively, favoring bonds instead of stocks in hopes of securing historically steady returns.
Despite serious budgetary and financial woes, and receiving a lower credit rating this year, Wall Street still appears to be confident in debt offered by the state of Connecticut.
Connecticut borrowed $300 million through a direct bond placement with Barclays Capital Inc. at the end of June, a deal that a state Treasury official said had been planned for some time and was not related to the state’s budget crisis.
Morgan Stanley, which has struggled for years to improve its bond-trading business, may finally be turning the corner.
The prospect of further cuts in interest rates and bond-buying to support a fractured global economy kept stock markets on the up in Europe and Asia on Friday, and drove U.S. and European government bond yields to their lowest in years.
