Best ETFs For Trading: TIPS, Junk And Munis

&l;em&g;These 15 funds are the cheapest in their categories for short-term speculations.&a;nbsp;&l;/em&g;

&l;img class=&q; wp-image-7544 size-full&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/baldwin/files/2018/07/Forbes-Best-ETFs.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;788&q; data-width=&q;940&q;&g;

Owning a bond fund is one way to bet on a decline in interest rates. The table ranks the cheapest exchange-traded funds for three-month holding costs on a $10,000 investment.

&l;div class=&q;table-wrapper&q;&g;&l;table width=&q;531&q;&g;&l;tbody&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;331&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;3&q; width=&q;72&q;&g;3-month Holding Cost*&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;2&q; width=&q;64&q;&g;Liquidity Score&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Ticker&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Exchange-traded fund&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Inflation-protected&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;STIP&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;$2.75&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VTIP&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Short-Term Infl-Prot Secs&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.59&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHP&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab US TIPS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.60&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;TIP&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares TIPS Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.97&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IPE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Blmbg Barclays TIPS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;7.01&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;TDTT&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;FlexShares iBoxx 3Yr Target Dur TIPS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.79&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;em&g;&a;nbsp;&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Junk&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;HYGH&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.65&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;HYLB&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Xtrackers USD High Yield Corp Bd&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;6.53&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SHYG&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corp Bd&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;7.20&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;HYG&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.94&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Tax-exempt&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;MUB&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares National Muni Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.17&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VTEB&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.28&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SUB&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Short-Term National Muni Bd&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;6.37&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SHM&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Nuveen Blmbg Barclays ST MunBd&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;7.72&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;TFI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Nuveen Blmbg Barclays Muni Bd&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.00&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;/tbody&g;&l;/table&g;&l;/div&g;

*&l;em&g;Cost of a $10,000 position held for three months. Reflects bid/ask spread, expense ratio and cost offset from securities lending.&l;/em&g;

&l;em&g;Data sources: Morningstar, Bloomberg, fund distributors&l;/em&g;

Bid/ask spreads figure heavily, and expense ratios not so heavily, in the cost calculation for speculative plays. For long-term investing the reverse is true, and different ETFs rise to the top in cost efficiency. For long-term cost rankings see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-tips/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs: TIPS&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;, &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-junk-bonds/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs: Junk Bonds&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;, and &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-tax-exempt-bonds/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs: Tax-Exempt Bonds&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.

For links to the three-month cost rankings in other categories, see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/08/02/best-etfs-for-trading/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs for Trading&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.