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Wednesday
Apr052006

Portfolio Trade - TIP

I have been buying TIP (iShares Lehman TIPS Bond Exchange Traded Fund) over the last two days.

WHY?
1. Yield is now over 6%.  I'm getting inflation plus about 2.5%
2. There is no state income tax on  US treasury interest.
3. I want to have longer bond exposure but I don't want to take the inflation risk and these bonds cover that for me and at a higher current yield than fixed rate treasuries.  Based on the prices of TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities)  and , the market is betting that inflation will fall
4. Holding TIPS in a taxable account is a bit complicated because you have to pay tax on the inflation accrual.  These ETF's pay out the inflation accrual as a dividend and thus simplify the tax reporting.
5. It isthe only asset with positive inflation correlation that is going down in price right now.

Financial Pipeline has a nice explanation of TIPS.

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