Monday, October 14, 2013

Debt Crisis: Here We Are Again

Once again we have the crisis of raising the US government debt ceiling, or defaulting on the national debt.  The last time this happened, I sold my regular Treasuries ETF and glad that I did.  I still own a TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) ETF, however.  It's down quite a bit this year, but still above what I paid for it.  So I'm wondering if I should sell it ahead of Thursday's possible default by the federal government.  I'm inclined to think so, for two reasons: (1) the default, if it happens, will surely hit the prices of all government bonds, including TIPS, and (2) TIPS, or at least my TIPS fund, are mostly long-term bonds.  Interest rates have nowhere to go but up from today's near-zero levels, and that will hit all long bonds.

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