Junk Bond Advice From a Pro  Before falling for those high
yields, listen to these insights and tips   Asking a stock guy
about the junk bond market is like asking a Spaniard if he
understands Portuguese. A Spaniard kind of does, but not with
all the details. So when I was asked to give my take on junk
bonds, I decided to look up a real expert.  I found one in Mike
Lanier of Silver Oak Asset Management. He has dealt in junk
bonds for a couple of decades, including for some of the
nation’s largest financial institutions. When asked if junk
bonds are overpriced, he took an hour to answer — and we
probably only scratched the surface. His response: “yes” and
“no.”  Junk bonds look expensive on an absolute basis. The
benchmark BofA Merill Lynch US High-Yield Master II Effective
Yield index (red line in the chart below) is near its all-time
low in yield (it hit that mark of 6.81% on May 16, 2011). Still,
“where else are you going to get something that yields close to
7%?” Mike asked.  I was aware of this issue. I h