This has clearly been a challenging year. As the third quarter comes to an end, it’s admittedly difficult to be optimistic about stock and bond markets right now.
The most recent quarter saw both stocks and bond prices fall in tandem again for the third quarter in a row. Of the 187 quarters since 1976, there has never been a period that has seen negative quarterly returns for both stocks and bonds three quarters in a row. Said another way, this is the longest period since 1976 that bonds haven’t played the traditional role in portfolios by offsetting losses in the stock market.
So why own bonds at all? Is there anything constructive that we can be hoping for?
John takes some time to explain this and some of the indicators we are watching as we head into the year end.