Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call for an early election worked in his favor. He called for a snap election to take advantage of his high ratings.
According to news reports, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could be calling for a snap election next month to capitalize on the increased approval ratings in August.
The BOJ’s (Bank of Japan’s) qualitative and quantitative easing (or QQE) programs and a negative interest rate are helping to slowly revive Japanese inflation.
The 30-year Treasury yield was close to its month high as of March 10, 2017, at 3.20% in anticipation of an interest rate hike by the Fed on March 15, 2017.
Negative bond yields in Japan and the Eurozone, coupled with very low federal funds rates in the United States, are part of why emerging market bonds and currencies have performed so well in 2016.
The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) tracks the Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index, which has exposure to the investment-grade universe of the US bond market.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the risks an investor must consider before investing in international bonds. Some of these risks are unique to this asset class.
International bond funds like the Vanguard Total International Bond Index ETF (BNDX) can have various investment styles determined by their stated choice of bond investments.
