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Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by shostack on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @01:49AM (#26487042)
Yes, it seems he's betting against the Western financial growth and stability. I wonder if he thinks the days of the dollar's reserve currency status are numbered.
Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by eru on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @09:17AM (#26490723)
Huh, why?

If the US economy is going to do well, bond yields will be going up. That means a bond short position will pay off.

Being short on bonds is basically financially almost exactly the same thing as borrowing money.

(The US treasury is 'short' on T-bills. They have to essentially 'buy them back' when they become due.)

Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by betterunix2 on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:46AM (#26492800)
It is not that simple. Right now interest rates are extremely low, so what you said is likely to be the case. On the other hand, as the economy improves credit risk will decline, and lower credit risk can drive bond yields lower (this is exactly what happens in the high yield market), which is more or less what happened for three decades beginning in the 1980s.
Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by eru on Thursday March 18, 2021 @05:28AM (#26500902)
Yes, that's true.

Might point was just that a short position in the bond market is not automatically 'betting against the Western financial growth and stability.'

(And, of course, the Western world is bigger than the US.)

Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by gohurnd on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @10:41AM (#26491909)
It is way too early to get out of dollars. When the dollar inevitably spikes, these emerging market funds are all going to suffer. If you were to sit on cash and wait to buy emerging markets at a discount, you’d do better over 20 years than buying now.
Re:Why in the world would you own bonds? by wcoenen on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @02:35PM (#26495126)
> I wonder if he thinks the days of the dollar's reserve currency status are numbered.

That's what he's been saying in his book "The Changing World Order". I believe it's not finished yet, but the chapters are published on his LinkedIn newsletter one by one: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/principled-perspectives...