Topic: How To Invest

Pat, I’ve read your comments on investing in bonds and the risk of inflation/rising interest rates. What are your views on the “inflation protection” offered by ETFs such as iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Because of today’s low interest rates, we generally advise against investing in bonds. This is especially so in light of the rise in inflation that may come from high levels of government spending and the expansion of the money supply. That rise in inflation will push up interest rates over time. This will hurt bonds, since their prices generally move in the opposite direction as interest rates. A: iShares Barclays TIPS Bond ETF, $103.04, symbol TIP on New York (Units outstanding: 161.6 million; Market cap: $16.7 billion), invests in the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) Index. There are 29 securities in the underlying index. The fund began trading on New York in December 2003 at $101.84 per unit. TIPS are a special type of U.S. Treasury note or bond that offers protection from inflation. Like other Treasuries, an inflation-indexed security pays interest every six months and returns the principal when the security matures. The difference is that the…