Bonds For Volatile Times

Here is an excellent article at Seeking Alpha about adding bonds to a diversified portfolio.  Like the author mentioned, some people shy away from bonds, but they definitely have a place in a safely allocated portfolio.  You can own junk bonds through JNK to capitalize on what remains of our bull market while you can hold BND, Vanguard's total bond fund ETF, for overall stability.  You will need to be agile when we enter a new bear market, though.  The author talked about how JNK fell 25% in 2008 while BND was up almost 8%.  So, even a well diversified portfolio will need to be monitored and adjusted for new conditions.