LONG-TERM TREASURIES HAVE AVERAGED A NEGATIVE 6.7% ANNUAL RETURN OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS That is the 20+ year part of the bond market, per CNBC. The 7-10 year portion averaged a decline of 1% over the same stretch. Bonds were supposed to be the safe half of a portfolio. When stocks dropped, bonds were supposed to hold up and cushion it. For five years they have not, and people sitting on big stock gains now have nowhere obvious to put money that feels safe. The average bank account pays under 1%. Where the money went in July was ultra-short bond funds, $12.8 billion of it. Those funds lend for less than a year at a time, so when rates move they barely get hurt, which is the whole reason a long bond can lose money while a short one does not. They also pay a little more than a money market fund. Roughly three quarters of a percentage point to a full point, according to Brookwood CIO Christopher Coolidge, whose model portfolios went from about 2% cash in June to 5% now. StraightLine CEO Mike Bisaro warned against taking it too far. "The problem with going completely to cash is that you've introduced the element of timing to your portfolio." Once you sell, you have to be right twice, and nobody knows when to get back in.