Bull run in fixed interest may be over

On the first Thursday of this month, European rates were reduced half a point to 2.0% and, typical...

On the first Thursday of this month, European rates were reduced half a point to 2.0% and, typically, Sir Edward George commented on sterling's recent weakness and kept UK rates unchanged. Not for nothing has he earned the sobriquet Steady Eddie. With the Government need- ing an 80% increase in gilt sales this financial year to fund their deficit, some investors are asking if the bull run in fixed interest investments in the last few years is now over. Has it mirrored the equity bull run of the last few years of the 1990s? Are there signs now of fixed interest markets becoming overext...