Let’s talk about bonds
A reader asked about the capital appreciation potential of bonds: It’s sometimes said that bonds are a better investment than cash because bonds have the potential for underlying capital appreciation in addition to their regular yields. But what does the historical record say about that? Do bonds appreciate over time? And if so, how much? And how has this differed historically among different types of bonds? Strictly speaking, the underlying dollar value of most bonds won’t appreciate. With few exceptions, a bond’s price at maturity (also known as par value) will never ...
