AS LONG AS RISK IS TRANSPARENT, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS JUNK:

Investors of all stripes are once again piling into "junk" bonds.

The buyers are coming from both sides of the investing fence--from bond investors eschewing the low yields of U.S. Treasury debt to stock investors seeking protection from swings in the market.

Retail investors have plowed $11.8 billion into junk-bond mutual funds this year, compared with $4.8 billion for stock funds and $9.9 billion for investment-grade bond funds, according to research firm Lipper. Mutual-fund managers say they are also increasingly buying up junk bonds, or bonds of companies with below-investment-grade credit ratings.

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