If you contemplate the debt oblilgations of the U. S. government, are you sure Treasuries will always prserve principal?
If a Treasury bond bought today is worth $1,000 and it is priced to yield 3 percent in one year, then you get back $1,030 - keeping it simple without the compounded annual percentage rate.
But if a "run" on the dollar drops the value of a dollar from the equivallent $1.00 in yen or sterling or even the dollar itself to a revised value of 95 cents - have you protected principal?
You have in dollar terms but have you in absolute terms?
Deutsche Bank Breaks the Buck [View article]
If a Treasury bond bought today is worth $1,000 and it is priced to yield 3 percent in one year, then you get back $1,030 - keeping it simple without the compounded annual percentage rate.
But if a "run" on the dollar drops the value of a dollar from the equivallent $1.00 in yen or sterling or even the dollar itself to a revised value of 95 cents - have you protected principal?
You have in dollar terms but have you in absolute terms?