Bond Returns and Other Market Ideas

* A Look at Year-to-Date Returns - These stats from the Wall St. Journal are for the year through the end of November. What we find is that total returns on short-term taxable bond funds was -6.3%; on intermediate funds was -7.8%; on long-term funds was -11%; and on high-yield funds was -29.5%. Similarly, total returns on short-term munis was -.1%; intermediate munis was -2.2%; long-term munis was -8.9%, and high-yield munis was -19.3%. It's a dramatic illustration of how the recent market has rewarded quality and punished higher risk/reward strategies.

* Good Readings - Difficulty living on credit, buyouts going bust, and other timely readings from The Kirk Report. A moving average crossover system and other market ideas from Abnormal Returns. Some views on economic depression and other updated links from Trader Mike.

* Learning by Video - SSK has posted his daytrading videos for November.

* Rates in South Africa - Ronnel Z. Bird offers background on LIBOR, South Africa, and more.

* Technical Analysis - I've gotten a couple of emails asking about books on technical analysis. Brian Shannon's text immediately comes to mind. If you have other recommendations, please leave them in the comments section for this post. Thanks!
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