Toss Your Junk (Bonds) in the Trunk – Linkfest (Aug 5)

by Aaron Levitt | August 5, 2014 9:00 am

For those looking for income, the last five years have been a struggle to say the least. Low interest rates have caused many investors to look beyond traditional income sources. One of the chief parking places for their cash have been high-yield or junk bonds. That’s all well and good … until the music stops. And it looks like the music may be stopping. As investors have fled the markets and the fears of a correction have taken hold, junk has been one of the hardest hit. Here’s Tracy Alloway and Vivianne Rodrigues at the Financial Times with more on junk’s downfall[1].

Private Equity Beat/WSJ (Rob Copeland): The hedge funds & private equity players are starting to short junk debt — even the ones who syndicate and issue this stuff[2].

The Reformed Broker (Josh Brown): So what happens when everyone runs to the exits in junk bond land[3]?

USA Today (John Waggoner): The huge iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG[4]) wasn’t the only junk bond fund to get hit hard lately. These funds suffered even more[5].

ETF Trends (Tom Lydon): But not the ProShares Short High Yield ETF (SJB[6]). This junk bond ETF is soaring[7].

Barron’s Income Investing Blog (Michael Aneiro): So when will the junk bond correction be over[8]?

SL Advisor Blog (Simon Lack): Shenanigans in untraded REIT land[9].

Bloomberg View (Leonid Bershidsky): Banks need to take on more risk[10].

The Wall Street Journal’s Digits (Brian R. Fitzgerald): Microsoft (MSFT[11]) scores a touchdown. The NFL is going to use Surface Tablets this year[12].

Quartz (Svati Kirsten Narula): Coca-Cola (KO[13]) says it’s sorry with a formula change. Apparently, it didn’t remember the New Coke outrage of the 1980s[14].

Aaron Levitt is an investment journalist living in Ohio. With nearly two decades of experience, his work appears in several high-profile publications in both print and on the web. Also likes a good Reuben sandwich. Follow his picks and pans on Twitter at @AaronLevitt[15].

Endnotes:

  1. junk’s downfall: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/982fd7ac-140f-11e4-9acb-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz39W7HLao9
  2. even the ones who syndicate and issue this stuff: http://blogs.wsj.com/privateequity/2014/08/01/apollo-global-starts-new-hedge-fund-to-short-junk-bonds/
  3. exits in junk bond land: http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2014/08/04/if-everyone-wants-their-money-back-at-the-same-time/
  4. HYG: /stock-quotes/HYG-stock-quote/
  5. These funds suffered even more: http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/08/04/these-junk-funds-got-trashed-last-week/
  6. SJB: /stock-quotes/SJB-stock-quote/
  7. This junk bond ETF is soaring: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unheralded-bearish-junk-bond-etf-170053616.html
  8. correction be over: http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2014/08/04/is-that-junk-bond-correction-over-yet/
  9. untraded REIT land: http://www.sl-advisors.com/another-crooked-untraded-reit/
  10. Banks need to take on more risk: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-08-05/banking-needs-an-appetite-for-risk
  11. MSFT: /stock-quotes/MSFT-stock-quote/
  12. The NFL is going to use Surface Tablets this year: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/04/nfl-is-using-locked-down-surface-tablets-on-the-sidelines/?mod=ST1
  13. KO: /stock-quotes/KO-stock-quote/
  14. outrage of the 1980s: http://qz.com/244483/why-cokes-experiment-with-vitaminwater-turned-sour/
  15. @AaronLevitt: https://twitter.com/AaronLevitt

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2014/08/junk-bonds-hyg-sjb-msft-ko-linkfest/