Bonds

A subscriber asked which exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset class proxies make the best safe havens for the U.S. stock market as proxied by the S&P 500 Index. To investigate, we test 16 ETFs/funds as potential safe havens:

State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU)
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF)
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond (SHY)
State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill (BIL)
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
iShares Core US Aggregate Bond (AGG)
iShares TIPS Bond (TIP)
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund (VTIP)
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund (VNQ)
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
iShares Silver Trust (SLV)
Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC)
United States Oil Fund, LP (USO)
Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP)
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)

We consider three ways to find safe havens for the U.S. stock market based on daily or monthly returns:

1. Contemporaneous return correlation with the S&P 500 Index during all market conditions at daily and monthly frequencies.
2. Performance during S&P 500 Index bear markets as defined by the index being below its 10-month simple moving average (SMA10) at the end of the prior month.
3. Performance during S&P 500 Index bear markets as defined by the index being -20%, -15% or -10% below its most recent peak at the end of the prior month.

Using daily and monthly dividend-adjusted closing prices for the above 16 funds since their respective inceptions, and contemporaneous daily and monthly levels of the S&P 500 Index since 10 months before the earliest inception, all through April 2026, we find that: Keep Reading

Is the evolving set of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms based on large language models interesting as U.S. Treasuries selection advisors? Are they monolithic, or diverse? As a simple exploration, we pose to each of Grok, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini the following prompt regarding the seven U.S. Treasuries exchange-traded funds (ETF) considered in “Treasuries ETFs Momentum Strategy Update/Extension”:

Using all training and real-time data available to you, please provide your unique view on whether investing in each of the following ETFs is favorable, neutral or unfavorable for the balance of 2026: BIL, SHY, VTIP, IEI, IEF, TIP and TLT. Do not provide any explanations.

We then compare and contrast results. Using responses to the prompt as posed in late May 2026, we find that: Keep Reading

The possibility that a bond issuer may default drives the credit risk premium, the average difference in return between such a bond and a U.S. Treasury security with matched duration. The possibility that interest rates may vary drives the term premium, the average difference in return between long-duration and short-duration bonds. How have these two premiums behaved over the long run? In their March 2026 paper entitled “Reconstructing a Century of U.S. Corporate Bonds: Credit Risk in Historical Perspective”, Mohammad Ghaderi, Sebastien Plante, Nikolai Roussanov and Sang Byung Seo address issues in extant long-run bond databases by constructing a new one from corporate bond quotes spanning 128 years. This sample captures major episodes of economic distress, including post-World War I recessions, the Great Depression, 1970s stagflation and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. They then aggregate data to construct value-weighted bond market time series for the full dataset and credit risk subsets. Using hand-collected corporate bond quotes from three print archives combined with modern datasets to build a monthly sample of over 100,000 unique bonds during April 1895 through June 2022, they find that:

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“Simple Term Structure ETF/Mutual Fund Momentum Strategy” tests a simple relative momentum strategy on the term structure of U.S. Treasuries using exchange-traded fund (ETF) and mutual fund proxies. Here, we update and extend that analysis with the following seven ETFs:

State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL)
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index ETF (VTIP)
iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI)
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF)
iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)

We allocate all funds at the end of each month to the one ETF with the highest total return over a specified ranking (lookback) interval, ranging from one month to 12 months. We start the test in July 2002 and add ETFs as they become available. To accommodate the longest lookback interval, portfolio formation commences 12 months after the start of the sample. We focus on compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and maximum drawdown (MaxDD) as key performance metrics. Using monthly dividend-adjusted closing prices for the seven ETFs as they become available through February 2026, we find that: Keep Reading

How do returns of different asset classes recently interact with inflation as measured by monthly change in the not seasonally adjusted, all-commodities producer price index (PPI) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics? To investigate, we look at lead-lag relationships between change in PPI and returns for each of the following 10 exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset class proxies:

• Equities:
  • SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
  • iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
  • iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)
• Bonds:
  • iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
  • iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
  • iShares JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Fund (EMB)
• Real assets:
  • Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
  • SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
  • Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)

Using monthly total PPI values and monthly dividend-adjusted prices for the 10 specified ETFs during December 2007 (limited by EMB) through January 2026, we find that: Keep Reading

“Simplified Offensive, Defensive and Risk Mode Identification Momentum Strategy” and “Size Effect-based Hybrid Asset Allocation Strategy” describe strategies that each month hold offensive (defensive) assets when average return on iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP) over the past 1, 3, 6 and 12 months is positive (negative). Is past return of TIP, which impounds investor expectations for U.S. inflation, a reliable and useful indicator of future asset class returns? To investigate, we relate TIP returns to future returns for each of the following exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset class proxies:

• Equities:
  • SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
  • iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
  • iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)
• Bonds:
  • iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
  • iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
  • iShares JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Fund (EMB)
• Real assets:
  • Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
  • SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
  • Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)

We consider both linear correlation and non-linear ranking tests. We look at TIP returns over the past 1, 3, 6 and 12 months separately, and as an average of these past returns (TIP 13612). We look at correlation variability and perform a simple test of economic value. Using monthly dividend-adjusted returns for TIP and the above asset class proxies as available during December 2003 (limited by TIP) through January 2026, we find that: Keep Reading

“Exploiting the Presidential Cycle and Party in Power” summarizes strategies that hold small stocks (large stocks or bonds) when Democrats (Republicans) hold the U.S. presidency. How has this strategy performed in recent years? To investigate, we consider three strategy alternatives using exchange-traded funds (ETF):

1. D-IWM:R-SPY: hold iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) when Democrats hold the presidency and SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) when Republicans hold it.
2. D-IWM:R-LQD: hold IWM when Democrats hold the presidency and iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD) when Republicans hold it.
3. D-IWM:R-IEF: hold IWM when Democrats hold the presidency and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF) when Republicans hold it.

We use calendar years to determine party holding the presidency. As benchmarks, we consider buying and holding each of SPY, IWM, LQD or IEF and annually rebalanced portfolios of 60% SPY and 40% LQD (60 SPY-40 LQD) or 60% SPY and 40% IEF (60 SPY-40 IEF). We consider as performance metrics: average annual excess return (relative to the yield on 1-year U.S. Treasury notes at the beginning of each year); standard deviation of annual excess returns; annual Sharpe ratio; compound annual growth rate (CAGR); and, maximum annual drawdown (annual MaxDD). We assume portfolio switching/rebalancing frictions are negligible. Except for CAGR, computations are for full calendar years only. Using monthly dividend-adjusted closing prices for the specified ETFs during July 2002 (limited by LQD and IEF) through December 2025, we find that:

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How do exchange-traded-funds (ETF) focused on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) perform? To investigate, we consider ten of the largest TIP ETFs, all currently available, as follows:

• • iShares TIPS (TIP)
  • Schwab U.S. TIPS (SCHP)
  • Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities (VTIP)
  • iShares 0-5 Year TIPS (STIP)
  • SPDR Portfolio TIPS (SPIP)
  • FlexShares iBoxx 3-Year Target Duration TIPS Index (TDTT)
  • PIMCO 1-5 Year US TIPS Index (STPZ)
  • SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-10 Year TIPS (TIPX)
  • PIMCO 15+ Year US TIPS Index (LTPZ)
  • FlexShares iBoxx 5-Year Target Duration TIPS Index (TDTF)

As benchmarks, we consider iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond (SHY), iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond (IEI), iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF) and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT). To match duration of each TIPS ETF, we assign the one of these four benchmarks with the highest correlation of monthly returns. We focus on monthly return statistics, along with compound annual growth rates (CAGR) and maximum drawdowns (MaxDD). Using monthly returns for the 10 TIPS ETFs and the four benchmark ETFs as available, and concurrent monthly changes in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), through October 2025, we find that: Keep Reading

Do target retirement date funds, offering glidepaths that shift asset allocations away from equities and toward bonds as target dates approach, safely generate attractive returns? To investigate, we consider seven such mutual funds offered by Vanguard, as follows:

• • Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 Fund (VTWNX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 Fund (VTHRX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund (VTTHX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund (VFORX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund (VTIVX)
  • Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund (VFIFX)

We consider as benchmarks SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and both 80-20 and 60-40 monthly rebalanced SPY-LQD combinations. We look at monthly and annual return statistics, including compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and maximum drawdown (MaxDD). Using monthly total returns for SPY, LQD, three target retirement date funds since October 2003 and four target retirement date funds since June 2006 (limited by Vanguard inception dates), all through September 2025, we find that:

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Are the “Simple Asset Class ETF Value Strategy” (SACEVS) and the “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy” (SACEMS) mutually diversifying. To check, based on feedback from subscribers about combinations of interest, we look at three equal-weighted (50-50) combinations of the two strategies, rebalanced monthly:

1. 50-50 Best Value – EW Top 2: SACEVS Best Value paired with SACEMS Equally Weighted (EW) Top 2 (aggressive value and somewhat aggressive momentum).
2. 50-50 Best Value – EW Top 3: SACEVS Best Value paired with SACEMS EW Top 3 (aggressive value and diversified momentum).
3. 50-50 Weighted – EW Top 3: SACEVS Weighted paired with SACEMS EW Top 3 (diversified value and diversified momentum).

We consider as a benchmark a simple technical strategy (SPY:SMA10) that holds SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) when the S&P 500 Index is above its 10-month simple moving average and 3-month U.S. Treasury bills (Cash, or T-bills) when below. We also test sensitivity of results to deviating from equal SACEVS-SACEMS weights. Using monthly gross returns for SACEVS, SACEMS, SPY and T-bills during July 2006 through August 2025, we find that: Keep Reading