One framing I keep coming back to is this: carry can make a boring bond position attractive even when the macro view is only mildly supportive. What is happening: Not every fixed-income position needs a dramatic directional bet. Sometimes the income profile itself does much of the work. Why it matters: That matters because carry changes how patient an investor can be while waiting for the thesis to play out. In practice: A bond yielding attractively may tolerate a slower path to capital gains than a zero-carry macro trade. Watch for: The mistake is ignoring how much return comes from just holding the instrument competently. Useful lens: A useful review question is which funding, incentive or cash-flow channel is actually doing the work. A lot of confusion disappears once you separate the headline from the mechanism.