RARE BEAR MARKET IN BONDS STRIPS INVESTORS OF SAFE HAVEN

A rare bear market in bonds hasn’t gotten much attention, but it may be inflicting more pain on investors than the downturns for stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investments.

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Investment-grade bonds — those issued by governments and corporations with good credit ratings — have fallen more than 20% from their peak in January 2021. That may not sound like a big deal when large U.S. stocks tumbled 20% within roughly six months and Bitcoin halved in value this year alone.

But bonds are supposed to be the safe part of any portfolio. Investors expect them to offer stability when stocks and other risky investments take one of their notoriously sharp swings. Now even this part of investors’ portfolios is taking on water.

“Global bonds have entered the first bear market in a generation,” UBS strategists wrote in a recent report.