I penned an article earlier this week about how I’m shorting Treasuries, basically because they’re overvalued in my opinion as the US is on the precipice of default within decades and we have deficits projected as far as the eye can see. While I view this as a sound investment decision (more of a trade really), one commentator in another forum called me out for “betting against America” and being unpatriotic. I think he might have been kidding to some degree, but I’ve heard this before in other circles, like when people were shorting the Big 3 Autos as they entered bankruptcy and such. So, I might consider the alternative, which is, I’m doing my patriotic duty to try and change our spending habits in Washington so my kids have a future. If the only way I can do that is blog about it and bet against Treasuries in the hopes of increasing yields to make it tougher to borrow, isn’t that a good thing?
I’m curious if you think it’s unpatriotic to short the US Treasury.
On that, some much more insightful and fun reading for the week:
The Burning Platform – PONZI SCHEME
The Big Picture – PIMCO’s Gross: QE1 and QE2 ‘destroyed’ credit creation
Political Calculations – Why Small Businesses Aren’t Creating Jobs
Invest It Wisely – Why You Should Use Coupons
JoeTaxpayer – How much do you need to retire?
Retire By 40 – Save 50% on Your Medical Bills
Budgeting In the Fun Stuff – Refinancing Update
Sweating The Big Stuff – Saving Money on Gas Isn’t Always Worth It
Financial Samurai – An Optimist’s Outlook: Why Not “Unemployment Day†Instead?
Money Crashers – List of 16 Major Leading & Lagging Economic Indicators
PT Money – Is Your Emergency Fund Big Enough?
Oblivious Investor – Who Is Your Money For?
Monevator – Ten lessons learned from accidentally starting a business
Money Mamba – Stocks Are Cheap
101 Centavos – Gold Bubbles and Gold Stocks
Stuff I Wrote Recently:
- Say Bye to Full-Time Employment: You’re Likely to be a Temp in the Future
- August Update: Traffic Up 31%, Earnings Up 17%, Outsourcing Biz and More
- My Foray into College Real Estate – Animal House 2011
- Is Capitalism Doomed? The Cliche of Our Time
- Shorting Treasuries For the Ultimate Risk-Takers
- Hottest ETFs of the Week: Irene Aftermath
- 4 Cool Fans to Get You Through the Heat
- The Best Companies in the World are Outsourcing. Why Aren’t You?
- Virtual Company Profile – My Pool Contractor Outsourced EVERYTHING!
Carnivals
I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup – please be sure to check out all these other great blogs…just come back!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I think most logical investors would conclude that there is only one way interest rates can go from zero and that is up. It only makes sense to bet against Treasuries. That is not unpatriotic but upholding the capitalistic notion of America to the utmost degree.
Unpatriotic?! LOL
A short bet on Treasuries is nothing more than rational. Yields are lower than inflation, and given the climate, fear is driving people to fixed income. The next move in rates is undeniably up. If that makes you unpatriotic, well, then I’m probably going to be unpatriotic too in the coming days.
I’ll be looking to enter into TLT puts after I get a better feel of how serious the Fed is at breaking the yield curve. If nothing else, I think a out of the money options play would do well, since I have a feeling yields will rally for a duration long enough to give options a jolt. Pure gamma play here, but it’s reasonable, in my view.
Making money is not unpatriotic.
Keep emotions out of investing.
If they don’t like what someone is saying, slander their person instead, lol… the whole unpatriotic thing is silly. People are not owned by the government; rather, it is the other way around. If anything, the government is unpatriotic for putting special interests above the best interests of the people.
Thanks for the mention!