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Corporate Bond Basics and FAQs

What Is the Minimum Bond Purchase Amount?
What Is the Minimum Bond Purchase Amount?
Posted by Steve Shaw

What Is the Minimum Investment for Corporate Bonds?In our Where To Buy Corporate Bonds Online article, we discuss the many benefits of using online brokerages such as Fidelity.com, E*TRADE, Interactive Brokers, Schwab.com, and Vanguard...

10 min read
Where To Buy Corporate Bonds Online and How
Where To Buy Corporate Bonds Online and How
Posted by Steve Shaw updated August 27, 2023

Many investors still do not know where to buy bonds. Many still believe you call up your broker and let him tell you what bonds he has available and the price for each bond....

15 min read
What Is a Credit Spread and How Does It Impact Bond Prices?
What Is a Credit Spread and How Does It Impact Bond Prices?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated November 8, 2022

What Is a Credit Spread for Corporate Bonds?Credit spreads, also known as Treasury spreads, are the difference between a corporate bond's yield to maturity ("YTM") and the YTM of a US Treasury bond or...

16 min read
How the Bond Ratings Scale Impacts Bond Prices
How the Bond Ratings Scale Impacts Bond Prices
Posted by Steve Shaw updated November 3, 2022

Notches on the bond ratings scale represent the opinion of credit rating agencies as to the likelihood of a bond issuer defaulting, but they do not tell investors whether a bond is a good...

10 min read
Key Corporate Bonds Advantages and Disadvantages
Key Corporate Bonds Advantages and Disadvantages
Posted by Steve Shaw updated February 3, 2023

We founded BondSavvy in 2017 so more individual investors could benefit from the income, capital growth, and relative safety individual corporate bonds can provide.  Few investors take advantage of owning corporate bonds and, instead,...

33 min read
The Advantage of Bonds Being Priced off Par Value
The Advantage of Bonds Being Priced off Par Value
Posted by Steve Shaw updated November 6, 2023

Many investors may hear the term "par value," shrug, and ask "What's the big deal?"  While the concept is straightforward, the fact that individual corporate bonds trade as a percentage of their par value...

9 min read
What Corporate Bond Research Does Bondsavvy Provide?
What Corporate Bond Research Does Bondsavvy Provide?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 5, 2023

We founded BondSavvy to put individual investors in control of their bond portfolios and to increase their investment returns.  A key part of this is providing BondSavvy subscribers with comprehensive, easy-to-understand bond recommendations that...

5 min read
How To Calculate Accrued Interest on Corporate Bonds
How To Calculate Accrued Interest on Corporate Bonds
Posted by Steve Shaw updated February 22, 2023

Bond investors are generally familiar with the term 'accrued interest;' however, many may not know the exact accrued interest calculation that determines the accrued interest buyers pay -- or sellers receive -- as part...

6 min read
How To Calculate and Use Leverage Ratios
How To Calculate and Use Leverage Ratios
Posted by Steve Shaw updated June 8, 2023

Bondsavvy, the leading provider of individual corporate bond recommendations for individual investors, calculates leverage ratios to assess default risk and relative value of corporate bond investments. Leverage ratios tell us how much debt a...

21 min read
Why Bondsavvy Is Better Than a Bond Investment Newsletter
Why Bondsavvy Is Better Than a Bond Investment Newsletter
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 5, 2023

Many fixed income newsletters publish lists of hundreds of bonds and leave it up to subscribers to weigh the risk and potential returns of each investment.  Other bond newsletters focus on all income products,...

3 min read
What Credit Analysis Does Bondsavvy Conduct When Evaluating Investments?
What Credit Analysis Does Bondsavvy Conduct When Evaluating Investments?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 5, 2023

Bondsavvy uses credit analysis to identify undervalued corporate bonds it believes can achieve higher investment returns than the leading bond funds and ETFs. To evaluate potential corporate bond investments, we must understand how bonds...

5 min read
How To Do a Fidelity Bond Search
How To Do a Fidelity Bond Search
Posted by Steve Shaw updated June 21, 2023

Investors who buy bonds online can do a Fidelity bond search and execute trades with the click of a few buttons.  Bond investing has come a long way over the last 20 years, and...

4 min read
How Bondsavvy Is Better Than Institutional Credit Research
How Bondsavvy Is Better Than Institutional Credit Research
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 5, 2023

While BondSavvy founder Steve Shaw is the leading expert in recommending individual corporate bonds to individual investors, he is not the only fixed income expert.  Major investment banks have fixed income research departments, which...

2 min read
What Role Do Individual Corporate Bonds Play in Income Investing?
What Role Do Individual Corporate Bonds Play in Income Investing?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 22, 2022

Individual corporate bonds are a crucial component of income investing, as they provide yields generally higher than Treasury bonds, muni bonds, and stocks.  While the total return opportunity for corporate bonds can be less...

1 min read
What Are Some Corporate Bond Basics?
What Are Some Corporate Bond Basics?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 22, 2022

Bonds are debt obligations of the issuing entity.  There are many types of bonds, and a good way to distinguish them is based on the word that comes immediately before the word "bonds."  For...

3 min read
What Is Bondsavvy Live?
What Is Bondsavvy Live?
Posted by Steve Shaw updated April 5, 2023

BondSavvy Live is a bond investing education webinar exclusive to BondSavvy subscribers, which we host three to four times each year.  Prior to each edition of BondSavvy Live, BondSavvy subscribers submit corporate bond investing questions...

2 min read
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