As of this afternoon, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (ticker: TLT) is down 21.5 percent year to date and is down 4.3 percent in the past month. Here’s a chart showing TLT’s performance during the last two months:
By contrast, the iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (ticker: TIP) is up 3.5% year to date and is up 0.4% in the past month. Here’s a chart showing TIP’s performance during the past two months:
TIPS bonds protect investors against inflation, whereas traditional treasury bonds do not. The divergence in the performance of these two exchanged-traded funds is a clear indication that treasury bond buyers are increasingly worried about inflation.
Dr. Duru