Quote from bestfriend:
I have three words: Auction Rate Municipals
As long as they last (prob 4-6 mos) they are the closest thing to free alpha I have seen in many years. You have weekly to monthly liquidity, highly-rated securities, and a 4%-15% tax free return.
ARS have been in the news because of some highly-publicized auction failures. But, if you read the prospectus you can stay away from securities with auction failure interest reset rates that are very low. It's those auctions that have been failing.
I suggest some Washington DC General obligation resets yielding 3.7-4.25%, Connecticut state GO's at 4%, and anything that has been called for redemption or has a final maturity of less than 10 years and a yield of 4.5% or more.
Today i bought $100k in healthcare munis that have been called for a 5/21 redemption at a yield of 5.223%. Last month I was getting 10% on Philly school bonds (which are essentially guaranteed by the state due to state law) and 14% last week on some Detroit airport bonds which reset at 5.23% today.
Most of these things are "A" or better underlying.