21.   Investors are drawn to the extra yield and stability the bonds offer.

22.   Investors value stocks less in times of rising interest rates, because corporate earnings would have to improve substantially to compete with the return offered by bonds.

23.   It also indicates that investors are hungry for the extra yield these long-term bonds offer at a time when yields on most higher-rated corporate securities are slim.

24.   Japanese investors, in particular, have developed a taste for debt of lower-grade borrowers because Japanese government bonds offer such paltry yields.

25.   Japanese bonds rose for the third day on expectations declines in Tokyo stocks will prompt some investors to seek the stable returns offered by bonds.

26.   More available bonds offer investors more choices, sending prices lower.

27.   Meanwhile, the bonds offer significant returns for the long run.

28.   Most Japanese bonds offer far skimpier returns than their foreign counterparts.

29.   Shorter-dated bonds offer a smaller price risk than longer ones in case interest rates shoot up.

30.   Slumping Tokyo stocks may prompt some investors to seek the stable returns offered by bonds.