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Municipals were weaker Monday, with yields rising two to five basis points, as U.S. Treasuries saw losses reversing Friday's rally, while equities ended in the red on continued geopolitical tensions between Russia and the Ukraine. "In addition, the Fed has recently focused on its dual mandate of maintaining employment and moderate inflation vs. its prior sole focus on its ill-advised 2% inflation ceiling." Researchers found that consumers have changed their views on inflation, with some "short-term movements in inflation expected to persist into the future", a New York Fed blog post said. [Extracted from the article]

The article looks at capital and bond investments in the U.S. as of September 1977, with particular focus given to the rise of the Federal funds rate and predictions about the economic consequences. The author discusses the yield of short and long term Treasury bills, corporate bonds, and the inflation rate.

The article focuses on the popularity of corporate bonds with investors. It states that the attraction of bonds is due to low rates and investor enthusiasm. It mentions that the U.S. Federal Reserve Board lowered the federal funds rate (FFR) target to 1% in 2003. It comments that FFR is what banks charge each other for overnight funds, and that this helps indicate the direction of interest rates.