, Columnist
What Caused a Junk-Muni ETF to Go Into Free-Fall?
In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, no dealer wants to catch a plummeting knife.
No one wants to catch a falling knife.
Photographer: Fred Tanneau/AFP/Getty Images
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No one seems to know quite what to make of the stunning price drop in the largest high-yield municipal-bond exchange-traded fund.
The VanEck Vectors High Yield Municipal Index (ticker HYD), with $3.6 billion in assets, was the picture of tranquility for much of the past three years. From the start of 2017 through February, its share price traded in a range of less than $7, starting at $59.26 and climbing to as high as $66.14 on Feb. 26.