(New York)

With stocks riding so high and anxiety building about a potential downturn, espousing and building a robust bond strategy is going to be more important than ever. With that in mind Barron’s has put out four bond funds picks for 2018. The picks are the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index, the Artisan High Income fund, the Prudential Short Duration Muni High Income, and the Dodge & Cox Global Bond.

FINSUM: The Vanguard fund really caught our eye. It has an expense ratio of 0.19% versus an average of 0.8% for its peers, and has more than $190 bn under management, with a lot of expertise managing it.

(Chicago)

Most people talk about retail investors’ effect on the stock market, especially when things get bad. But what is much less understood is their role in the bond market. Individual bond buyers are growing force in the bond market and are one of the major factors that has kept bond yields low. The proportion of the US population 65 or older has grown 40% since 2000 and is set to keep growing. Retirees typically buy more bonds as they near retirement, which should keep downward pressure on yields.

FINSUM: So admittedly this WSJ article we discuss absolutely supports the arguments we have been making to our readers for many months. We are not bearish on bonds, despite a lot of comments to the contrary, because there is such a big demographically-driven source of demand.