An exchange traded fund tracking long-dated Treasury bonds has pulled back somewhat after hitting its high for the year last week with investors scaling back risk in their portfolios.
Despite all the chatter about the debt ceiling and inflation, iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: TLT) is up 4% year to date. [Treasury ETFs Caught Between Debt Worries, Safety Trade]
“Treasuries and related ETFs such as TLT have been running recently, with TLT touching its highest levels in 2011” last week of $97.72 a share, said Paul Weisbruch at Street One Financial, in a recent note.
“That said, we have seen some evidence of institutional managers betting against a continued runup in the long bond, and are looking to ETFs,” Weisbruch wrote.
He said these investors are considering ETFs such as PowerShares DB 3x Short 25+ Year Treasury Bond ETN (NYSEArca: SBND) and ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEArca: TBT).
“SBND allows the portfolio manager to participate in gains if the long bond falls in value (yields rise), on a three-times leveraged, monthly compounded methodology whereas TBT offers two-times leverage but on a daily compounded basis,” Weisbruch said.
“With this said, those who are looking to minimize the affects of daily volatility and potentially being whipsawed which would affect overall returns, may look to SBND to achieve these objectives (due to the monthly reset component),” he added.
ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury
Editor’s note: For more information on Street One ETF research, contact pweisbruch@streetonefinancial.com.