When it comes to the fixed income space, 2021 has been a rough year. Just about every area of the sector you look at, YTD returns have been negative. Below is a snapshot of a custom portfolio of fixed income-related ETFs from our Trend Analyzer. Two things in the snapshot stand out. First, the only ETF in the group above its 50-DMA is the High Yield Bond ETF (HYG). Not only is it above its 50-DMA, but it’s also overbought! Given the recent strength in HYG, it is also the only ETF in the group that is up YTD with a gain of just under 1%. While short-term US Treasury related ETFs are down less than 1%, the TIPS ETF is down over 1% (TIP), total bond market ETFs are down over 3% (AGG and BND), the emerging market fixed income ETF is down close to 5%, while longer-term US Treasury ETFs are down over 10%!

Also noteworthy about the high yield bond market is the fact that the B of A High Yield Master Index just made a new all-time high on a total return basis, taking out its mid-February high. Apropos to its name, high yield has been a high point of the fixed income sector.