We Might Be Here For A While
Drew O’Neil discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.
Last summer, the lower bound of the Fed Funds rate was at 2.25%. Six months after that, the Fed had lowered it down to 1.50%, and by March it had fallen to 0.00%. The slow and methodical three year climb of the Fed Funds Rate from 0.00% that started in December of 2015 was undone in a matter of months, just as we were getting used to relatively decent returns on money markets and other short-term investment options. Now here we are back at 0.00% on the Fed funds and money market yields south of 0.15%. Just because the world was a very different place just 6 months ago (in terms of both pandemics and interest rates), doesn’t mean that interest rates will return to their pre-pandemic levels any time soon. There is a good chance that 0.00% Fed Funds will be around much longer than the pandemic.
