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☆ BlackRock says this is the 'last best opportunity' to buy these bonds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"We believe the recent back up in rates is probably the last best opportunity to extend duration," wrote Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist, Americas, at BlackRock. Generally speaking, the value of a bond goes up as interest rates go down, with longer-dated bonds seeing the biggest gains. While bond funds have been seeing inflows this year, there are still plenty of investors with excess cash in short-term accounts. Different funds that offer that type of exposure include the iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI) , the SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF (SPTI) and the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (VGIT) . Investors shouldn't go overboard with adding duration, because the long-term bonds on the market carry extra risk, Akullian said.

Persons: BlackRock's, Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, Kristy Akullian, It's, Akullian, Investors shouldn't Organizations: Treasury, Federal, Investment Company Institute, BlackRock, CNBC, Treasury Bond ETF, Research, Investors Locations: Americas, BlackRock, US10Y

☆ Money market funds were hot in 2023. Here's what to expect in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-26 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Next year should be another good one for money market funds, even amid anticipated rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, experts predict. An estimated $950 billion has gone into money market funds so far this year, bringing the total net assets to $5.87 trillion as of Dec. 20, according to the Investment Company Institute . The Federal Reserve has indicated three rate cuts for 2024, which means the yields in short-term assets like money market funds and online savings accounts will follow suit. That's because money market funds are competing with bank savings accounts for cash, not necessarily equities and fixed income assets, he said. Certified financial planner Cathy Curtis, founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning, would look at money market funds for cash you will need in six months or less.

Persons: Shelly Antoniewicz, Peter Crane, Crane, it's, Christine Benz, Cathy Curtis, Curtis, Kristy Akullian Organizations: Federal Reserve, Crane Data, Investment Company Institute, Federal, Crane, Morningstar, Benz, Curtis Financial, CNBC, BlackRock

☆ Cut your tax bill and revamp income-generating investments with this move
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tax loss harvesting is a staple of year-end planning. Bonds are ripe for tax loss harvesting in the wake of the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking cycle. Consider that the longer-dated iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) has a year-to-date total return of about -7.3%, while the shorter-term iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) has a total return of roughly 0.7% in 2023, according to Morningstar. "Tax loss harvesting is a silver lining for some of the pain they've been feeling the last couple of years." Bonds and the wash sale rule To benefit from tax loss harvesting, investors must avoid violating the wash sale rule .

Persons: Bonds, Morningstar, Kristy Akullian, Jeffrey Levine, St . Louis, Levine, Jordan Naffa, Naffa, VGSH, Lisa, Kirchenbauer Organizations: Treasury Bond ETF, Bond, BlackRock, Internal, Strategic Wealth, Arista Wealth Management, Treasury, SEC, VGIT, Omega Wealth Management Locations: St ., Las Vegas, Arlington , Va

With its latest 25 basis point interest rate increase now in the books, the Fed has raised the benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points since March 2022 to a level last seen before the 2007 housing market crash in a fight to bring down inflation. Still, some fixed income investors have remained on edge over how long the Fed can keep interest rates at restrictive levels without sparking an economic downturn. Meanwhile, Fed funds futures traders saw increased probability of another interest rate increase in September. To be sure, investors had badly overestimated the chances for recession at the beginning of this year and could be wrong again. Over the past year the unemployment rate has remained stubbornly low and growth has run consistently above trend.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Gurpreet Gill, Goldman Sachs, Powell, Kristy Akullian, It's, Adam Hetts, Janus Henderson, Mike Sanders, Blair Shwedo, Davide Barbuscia, David Randall, Ira Iosebashvili Organizations: YORK, Federal Reserve, Fed, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Barclays, BlackRock, Investment, Treasury, Janus, Janus Henderson Investors, Madison Investments, U.S . Bank, Thomson

☆ ETF outlook: Why Wall Street strategists aren't chasing a growth stock trade just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The rally in growth and tech stocks in the first quarter caught much of Wall Street off-guard, but many ETF strategists are sticking to their call and not chasing the hot sectors quite yet. The big winners in the stock market during the first quarter were found among growth stocks. QQQ YTD mountain Growth stocks rebounded in the first quarter. One area that is popular among value investors is income funds, which can help investors offset market declines by generating cash. To be sure, the iShares strategy team has an improving view of growth stocks, at least in high quality names.

Many on Wall Street remain convinced that a widely expected recession is likely to roil markets once again sometime this year. Also encouraging for investors was Powell's repeated references to disinflation - a falling rate of inflation. "I think they do see a path where you can get that soft landing, that Goldilocks-type scenario play out," he said. Banks and asset managers that have reiterated recession calls in recent weeks include BlackRock, Wells Fargo and Neuberger Berman. "Do people think (rate cuts) will be in response to inflation that has been coming down or something more dramatic, in terms of economic slowdown?

☆ Debt bomb, biotech bump and a bond rally: 2023 money predictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

What does 2023 hold for investors? Prediction: Debt bombSarah NewcombSarah Newcomb, director of financial psychology at Morningstar“I’m concerned about the lack of saving in America as a whole. We had a moment of higher savings rates when the pandemic first hit, and people realized they needed to be prepared for anything. The optimism of these entrepreneurs for continued growth in the new year points to resilience amid some tough financial decisions they’ll likely make in 2023. “For instance, we expect to see a rise in debt consolidation as business owners look to combat the rate environment.

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