Those who believe that the best government is unobtrusive and nearly invisible have probably ground their teeth to dust by now, but as markets open again on Monday it looks like governments on each side of the Atlantic continue to call the tune in the markets. While Europe tries every trick in the book to keep Greece afloat, politicians in the U.S. seem committed to elbowing each other aside in a rush to drill more holes in the bottom of their boat.
A Government Shutdown?
If the politicians in Washington continue to court a government shutdown and play a massive game of chicken with each other, the general public may stop caring and the markets may just decide to install a semi-permanent "knucklehead premium" on U.S. government securities. In the meantime, though, investors should expect another spate of debate, controversy and wall-to-wall talk about whether Congress can come together and agree on another short-term funding measure to keep the government working.
Read more here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Here-We-Go-Again--Markets-Continue-To-Move-On-Governments-TLT-SHY-GLD-DB-UBS-MS-GS0926.aspx
You do not need to search far to find prophets of doom warning you away from one asset class or another. Normally, I pay no particular attention to this - it is the ongoing differences of opinion between investors that give us a vibrant market, and there is certainly money to be made in finding creative ways to shout "we're all doomed!" on financial TV.
Still, I cannot help but wonder about certain investment opportunities. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the return potential in U.S. Treasury securities, and I wonder if investors can do better for themselves with other instruments. Specifically, I am interested in comparing the investment prospects of government bonds to those of major telecommunications companies.
To read the complete piece, please go to:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Phone-Stocks-The-New-Treasuries-VZ-T-PHI-TLK-FTE0707.aspx
NB - in the fixed income world, the plural form of a Treasury bill is typically "Treasurys", not "Treasuries". I'm trying to convince my editors at Investopedia of this detail...
