bond funds

If you have bond funds, you should know that sooner or later, interest rates will rise, and the value of your bond funds will fall.

Investors poured money into bonds and bond funds last year in search of safety and higher returns. Now the bond advantage is shrinking as risks are rising.

Right now, there is no good reason to own a bond fund, whether you're looking for income or an investment that will moderate the stock market's downturns.

You're better off owning short-term Treasuries or buying bank CDs.

Money market mutual funds are paying a pittance. Look to local banks, laddered CDs and short-term bond funds to achieve higher yields.

Many middle-of-the-road bond mutual funds that seemed to promise stable returns in a difficult market have recently taken gut-wrenching plunges.

The only thing good that can be said about bond funds lately is that stock funds have been worse. If you're looking for someplace to put your money, a high-grade corporate bond fund might be the best place.

To put the best possible light on what is a catastrophe for some investors, the past six months have shown us which ultra-short bond funds have decent management, and which ones should be shipped off to Palookaville.

And for all investors, especially for those with a morbid interest in how good ideas go bad, the story of ultra-short bond funds provides a useful lesson.