ETF Shorting Bonds Up 11% This Year; Treasury Yields Slipping Today

With bond yields rising, returns of the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) have dropped nearly 5.7% so far in 2011.

By contrast, the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TBT) has gained more than 11.3% entering today’s session, according to Morningstar data.

TLT’s shares are on a slight rebound in the early going, up by 0.2% as yields slip ahead of government auctions of 10-year notes and traders start to digest word of Fed Chair Ben Bernanke’s statements before Congress this morning.

Disclosure I am Long TLT shares.