The chart below provides the median yields for regular coupon bonds as rated by Moody’s. All bonds considered have maturities between 6 to 8 years and have values of $50 million or greater. Yields were calculated as of the final day of February 2017. Zero coupon and floating rate bonds are excluded from the sample.(Source: Moody’s)With core inflation around 2.3%, this suggests that Aaa bonds only return about 50 bps in real terms. Speculative-grade yields start out at around 4.65%, or about 230-240 bps of real yield.Caa bonds, which possess high risk of default, return under 5% in real yield, but have been heavily bid up due to a lack of attractive yield options in lower risk assets. Overall, bonds have been roughly flat year-to-date, with most US bond indices showing YTD gains of 0%-1%.