Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of December 15, 2015

Article Excerpt

Decades ago, it used to make some sense to try to profit by moving back and forth between bonds and stocks. That’s because bonds and stocks had something of a seesaw relationship. When the economy was strong, business profits and stock prices would go up. However, interest rates and inflation would go up as well. The rise in interest rates meant that new bonds would come on the market with higher interest rates. That would push down prices of existing bonds that carried low interest rates. As this process continued, some investors would sell some of their stocks, in part because stock prices had gone up. They would re-invest the money in bonds, because bond prices had fallen, and bond yields had gone up. This trading strategy gave investors a sense of safety and accomplishment, but it had drawbacks. For one, you had to pay taxes in…