Where Have All The Good Bonds Gone?

February 1, 2002 — Investors today are faced with an increasing array of difficult challenges and trends. This is particularly true for those that seek investment opportunities in the U.S. domestic bond market. With a market valuation of nearly $15.5 trillion at year-end 2000, representing over 50% the world bond market, one would think that finding a high quality (AAA) corporate bond to invest in would be an easy exercise. “Au contraire mon frer”, even though the corporate bond market represents nearly one third of the U.S. domestic bond market, finding an “old fashioned” Aaa rated U.S. industrial, utility or bank bond is almost the equivalent of sighting a Sasquatch in the woods.