A safer way to invest in foreign bonds

(MONEY Magazine) -- Income-starved investors looking to amp up their portfolios have been turning to foreign bonds -- for obvious reasons. The 4.2% payout on the average foreign fixed-income fund dwarfs the yield on U.S. bonds by about 1½ percentage points.

Moody's: Australia vulnerable to external shocks

SYDNEY--Australia is vulnerable to a global downturn and the government's pledge to return the budget to surplus will be challenged but the Australian dollar will still be partly supported by its emerging "safe haven" status, said Steven Hess, senior credit officer and the chief sovereign analyst for Australia at Moody's Investors Service.