I like some of the elements of the suggested funds. At this time, I do own LQD. My goal is high current income with preservation of capital. As such, I added PGX (investment grade preferred stocks). High income and a speculative play on the banks (JPM, BAC, WFC, HSBC). I also added two closed-end funds (sometimes they are actually better than the corresponding ETF), ACG and PHD. ACG concentrates on high quality government bonds both here and abroad, and PHD invests in senior notes with floating interest rates. Added these at the end of last year, and have been pleased with the results. Given the current climate, if any of these fail, then the end of the world as we know it, will occur. BTW, everything is a trade. If any of these shoot up quickly, like LQD and PGX did, I take some profits. The divvies would not cover the quick profit anyway.