Bonds 101 Starter Guide

Bonds are a relatively safe and conservative investment that provide a predictable stream of stable income.

 
BONDS STARTER GUIDE ARTICLES

What Is A Bond? How Do Bonds Work?

Bonds are seldom as sexy as those wild-ride shares, but they’re reliable money-makers. Learn about bonds and how to match them to your personal investing style.

How To Buy Bonds?

Bonds may be lower risk, but they are not risk-free. You should research bonds just as you would stocks before purchasing them. Learn how and where to buy bonds.

The Bond Market

The bond market is where participants can issue new debt or buy and sell debt securities to provide long-term funding for public and private expenditures

Bond Index

A bond index is a method of measuring the value of a section of the bond market. Investors use it to describe the market and compare the return on investments

Bond Quotes

A bond quote is the price at which a bond is trading. It’s expressed as a percentage of par value. A bond quote above 100 means the bond is trading above par.

Bond Rates, Yields And Pricing

Many new investors are surprised to learn that a bond’s price fluctuates and changes on a daily basis, just like that of any other publicly-traded security.

Bond Calculators

A bond calculator measures the present value of a bond’s cash flow (its future interest payments), and par value (the bond’s value upon maturity).

Bond Premiums

A bond selling at premium is trading above its par value. It’s considered premium when it offers a coupon rate higher than its prevailing interest rates

Bond Ratings

Think of a bond rating as a school report card. Companies have ranking for bonds based on the likelihood of the bond defaulting on its invested amount

Bond Valuation

Bond valuation is a technique for determining the fair price of a bond. The theoretical fair value is the present value of the stream of cash flows it’s expected to generate.

Bond Insurance

Bond insurance is when an insurance company guarantees scheduled payments of interest and principal on a bond in the event of a payment default by the issuer

Savings Bonds

Savings bonds, one of the safest investments, are debt securities issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to pay for the government’s borrowing needs.

Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds are issued by states, cities, or other local governments to raise money to fund services or infrastructure projects (road repair, sewers, purchasing land, etc.).

Corporate Bonds

Corporate bonds are a major source of capital for many businesses along with equity and bank loans/lines of credit. They can be quite secure or sometimes risky

Treasury Bonds

There’s no such thing as a risk-free investment, but if there was it’d be treasury bonds. Interest is paid semi-annually and taxed only at the federal level.

Bond Funds

A bond fund invests in bonds or debt securities. It pays dividends including interest on the fund’s underlying securities plus realized capital appreciation.

THE 3 BEST TOOLS FOR BEGINNER INVESTORS

Updated December 25, 2022: At WallStreetSurvivor, our passion is helping you learn to invest in the stock market the RIGHT WAY! As part of our commitment to you, we are constantly evaluating all types of financial tools from stock picking newsletters to brokerage apps to stock screeners and more. Here are our favorites:

1. BEST SOURCE OF STOCK PICKS FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS

We have been tracking ALL of the Motley Fool stock picks since January 2016. That's over 5 years and 120 stock picks. Take a look at their stock picks' performance for the last 5 years:

  • Average return of their 120 picks from 2016 to 2020 is 233%
  • That beats the SP500's 88%
  • 84% of their picks are up
  • 57 of those 120 stocks have doubled

Now, no one can guarantee that their next picks will be as strong, but our 5 years of experience has been super profitable as you can see. They do pick some losers, but the key for investors is to invest equal dollar amounts in all of their picks. So if you have $1,000 to invest in the market each month, buy $500 of each of their 2 monthly stock picks.

Normally the Motley Fool service is $199 per year but they are currently offering it at their lowest price ever: Just $79 for 12 months..

CLICK HERE to get the next Motley Fool Stock Pick 

2. BEST STOCK BROKERAGE ACCOUNT

Robinhood was the first brokerage site to NOT charge commissions when they opened in 2013. They just past 10,000,000 accounts and to celebrate they are offering one free share of stock (value up to $200) when you open a new account. In addition, they will give you another free share of stock (up to $250) for each friend that you refer, max 3 friends a year.

Here's the details: You must click on a special promo link to open your new Robinhood account. Then when you fund your account with at least $10, you will receive one stock valued between $5 and $200. Then, you will get a link to share with your friends. Every time one of your friends opens an account, you will receive another free stock valued between $5 and $200.

Claim your free stock NOW

3. FIVE STOCKS LIKELY TO DOUBLE

ZACKS Investment Research just released their list of 5 Stocks Likely to Double. ZACKS has been around since 1978 and their top rated stocks have an average gain of 25.35% per year over the last 30+ years. Best of all, you can get this list of 5 stocks for FREE by CLICKING HERE.

PRICE DROP: Get 12 months of Motley Fool stock picks and save $110. New Subscribers can try the service now for just $89.