Heartland & Co.

Many investors think of the bond market as a sleepy backwater of the investable universe. But since interest rates peaked in the early 80s, financial innovation in the bond market has spawned countless new investment vehicles (junk bonds, zero-coupon bonds, collateralized debt obligations and other derivative products), democratized lending (think subprime borrowers and emerging countries) and brought Central Bankers our of dark paneled, smoke-filled rooms into the media spotlight (think Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on 60 Minutes). All this has occurred during a 30-year bull market in bonds.