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Stocks Versus Bonds

A lot of investors may wonder if they should have invested in stocks or bonds or both. Both investment vehicles have their own merit in the investment world. However, the best investment choice depends on your investment horizon and your risk tolerance.

Bond is a certificate of debt issued by governments or corporations which will be repaid later at maturity. Bond investors get steady stream of interest while the principal will be paid at maturity. Currently, the ten year treasury bond yield 4.48 %. This guarantees investors that held the bond to maturity, an annual 4.48 % return on investment assuming a default risk of 0. Since treasury bond is backed by the United States government, it is safe to say that the default risk is nil. Treasury bond price fluctuates daily. But the potential capital gain from the price change is fairly minimal. As of Tuesday December 6th 2005, the 10 year treasury bond is priced at around par value of $ 100. Therefore, the investors' main return on investment is through the interest payment of the bond.

When investing in common stock, investors may be rewarded with either dividend payment or capital appreciation or both. Mainly, investors are aiming for capital appreciation profit when they invest in stocks. Historically, stock market indices has returned 10.5% since world war II. Stock investors may be exposed to a lot of risk due to the price volatility. When the company is doing poorly, investors may lose half or all of his principal. Bond investors do not have this problem if the debt issuer still survives.

In my opinion, investors are well served investing in stocks if they will not use the savings for more than five years. The reason is simple. Common stock gives a much larger return than bond. Investing in bond merely get you even with inflation. Some common stock can even give you that kind of return from dividend alone. If stock investors properly calculated the fair value of the common stock, the short-term volatility of stock will not matter. In the long run, stock will be traded close to their fair value.

There is no need for investors with five year investing horizon to avoid common stocks. While investing in treasury bond is theoretically safe, its return barely match inflation. In other words, investing in treasury bond will not make us richer.

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