Even though the writing was on the wall, US junk bonds rose so...

  1. 10,404 Posts.
    Even though the writing was on the wall, US junk bonds rose so high in value to be only a few percentage points above Tbills.

    Now as the interest rates are about to rise junk bonds have to compete with the rest of the bond markets and I can't see them holding up too well at all.

    Junk bonds are US corporate paper and can range from AAA companies to -CCC rated, hence the difference in rates to government bonds. Ten years ago the spread was ~8% and desperation for a decent yield has pushed junk bond prices far too low. When the market reassess the risk the spread will quickly increase I believe.

    For me there are two possibilities:

    Proshares short Junk Bond ETF (SJB) and ishares iBoxx High yield (HYG). One's an inverse with plenty of air above and the other is a short with plenty of oxygen below.

    Any comments?
 
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