Convertible bonds remained at the top of our list for a second week with the Barclays U.S. Convertible Bond Index gaining 0.82 percent over the past five trading days.
As I’ve discussed in this column in the past, convertible bonds quite often move in harmony with the stock market, so it’s no surprise that convertible bonds are higher with the Standard & Poor’s 500 gaining .87 percent over the past five trading days.
High-quality international corporate bonds finished second-highest on our list this week, with the S&P Internationals Corporate Bond index gaining .39 percent this past week.
However, the new kid on the block, when it comes to weekly top performers, is U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Bonds, or TIPs as they are commonly called. The Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Bond index has gained 0.24 percent over the past five trading days and is up 1.66 percent over the past three months. TIPs are considered an extremely low-risk investment since they are backed by the U.S. government.