Calls Mount for Investors to Sell High-Yield Munis After Rally
- Oppenheimer, Ramirez advise clients to sell riskiest debt
- Muni junk bonds have returned twice as much as corporates
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A growing chorus of analysts is advising those who invest in high-yield municipal bonds that it may be time to take their money and run.
Analysts from Oppenheimer & Co. and Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. on Monday said it makes sense to lock in their gains by selling the riskiest municipal bonds, which rallied this year as fixed-income investors sought out bigger returns. The 4.4 percent return on high-yield state and local government debt in 2018 is about twice the gain for corporate junk bonds and stands in contrast to the loss in the broader municipal market, according to Bloomberg Barclays indexes.