US Treasury bills

In his December letter to investors, Bill Gross, manager of the PIMCO, the world's largest bond fund, laments his cash's 0.01% yield. Gross says at that rate of return, it would take 6,932 years to double his money.

Take into account the ravages of inflation (and taxes) over time, and the rate of return is negative. It's equivalent to giving the US government money, so they can hold it for you. To make matters worse, that US government is also bankrupt.

The only consolation is the holding period for Treasury bills is 3 months. But to tie up your money for 30 years, only to have it yield 4.3%, is insane to me. But that's exactly what buyers of 30-year US Treasury bonds were doing several months ago. Inflation alone wipes out bond investors. Even with a weakening economy, if demand for long-dated US bonds remain tepid, yields have to increase to attract demand. We saw that last week.

A weak economy results in low bond yields, but any uptick in economic activity would cause yields and interest rates to rise, causing bond prices to decline. That's the bubble I'm expecting to burst: long-expiring US Treasury bonds.