Are we in a recession? The official Declaration comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and that announcement typically doesn't come until the market is on its way back. But there is little doubt that we are, in fact - in a recession. The only questions are how deep will it go, and how how long will it last. In recent U.S. History, recessions have lasted about 10 months.
Municipal bonds are considered one of the most attractive sectors in fixed income for investors with intermediate- to longer-term time horizons. Absolute yields on municipals are higher than they have been in nearly eight years, while yields relative to the Treasury market have reached levels that have not been seen in at least 25 years.
We see current yields on municipal bonds ranging from 7% to 9%. Adjusted for an investor in the 35% tax bracket that's a yield of almost 14%. In the 25% tax bracket, it's as much as 12%.
See what your yield would be with our Taxable Equivalent Yield Calculator.
While technical supply and demand issues have been driving the market, we believe the fundamental credit quality of most municipal bonds still appears solid despite the slowing economy and liquidity crisis.While we expect some downgrades as state and local tax receipts decline, munis have historically had low default rates of roughly 1/2 of one percent, which includes other periods of economic weakness.
As one of the Nation's leading underwriters of fixed income in our focus sectors we have resources available to help you find attractive yields for your fixed income portfolio.