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Bonds

Bond-market terms for fixed-income securities, yields, duration, credit risk, issuer types, and portfolio use.

Bonds are fixed-income securities that represent a borrower’s promise to make interest and principal payments under stated terms.

Use this section when an investing question turns on issuer credit, coupon structure, price, yield, maturity, duration, collateral, rating, tax status, or how a fixed-income position fits a portfolio. Bond terms can look precise, but the economics depend on the exact security, price source, cash-flow schedule, legal documents, and trading context.

What This Branch Covers

AreaUse it for
Bond Basics and IssuanceIssuers, bondholders, face value, maturity, repayment structure, ownership form, covenants, and offering documents.
Prices, Yields, and SpreadsPar, premium, discount, yield measures, spreads, valuation, accrual, and roll-down return.
Coupon and Interest Payment StructuresCoupon rates, payment periods, fixed coupons, deferred interest, PIK interest, zero-coupon bonds, and perpetual structures.
Duration, Convexity, and Rate RiskInterest-rate sensitivity, curve risk, convexity, holding period, and Treasury curve context.
Credit Ratings and Bond RiskRating grades, rating agencies, credit spreads, bond insurance, and risk-spread measures.
Government, Treasury, and Agency BondsTreasury securities, agency bonds, sovereign debt, gilts, STRIPS, and government-backed issues.
Corporate and Credit BondsCorporate bonds, debentures, secured debt, high-yield bonds, hybrid debt, and special-purpose corporate issues.
Municipal, Public-Purpose, and Savings BondsMunicipal bonds, public-purpose debt, tax status, savings bonds, refunding, and revenue pledges.
Callable, Putable, and Convertible BondsEmbedded options, call protection, put features, retractable bonds, convertibles, and dilution effects.
Floating-Rate and Inflation-Linked BondsFRNs, variable-rate bonds, inflation-linked securities, indexed principal, and reference-rate resets.
Asset-Backed and Structured CreditABS, ABCP, CBOs, pass-throughs, collateralized structures, tranches, and securitization vehicles.
Bond Market Trading and InfrastructureBond auctions, quotes, brokers, repo, securities lending, coupon stripping, clearing, and trading infrastructure.
Bond Funds, Indexes, and PortfoliosBond funds, fixed-income trusts, ladders, aggregate indexes, benchmarks, and portfolio construction.

How to Read a Bond Term

Start with the security description: issuer, CUSIP or identifier, maturity, coupon, price, yield measure, call schedule, seniority, collateral, tax status, and settlement date. A high quoted yield can reflect credit risk, call risk, liquidity risk, tax treatment, stale pricing, or an unusual cash-flow structure.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating quoted yield as a certain total return.
  • Comparing bonds without matching maturity, credit quality, tax status, call features, and price basis.
  • Confusing face value with market price.
  • Ignoring accrued interest, fees, liquidity, and the difference between clean price and settlement value.

Public Verification Sources

Public sources can help confirm basic mechanics and trade context. Investor.gov on bonds, FINRA fixed-income data, MSRB EMMA, and TreasuryDirect marketable securities are useful starting points, but the exact bond document and trade record still control the analysis.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.

Structured Credit

Asset-backed security, ABCP, CBO, pass-through, securitization vehicle, and structured-credit terms.

Basics and Issuance

Foundational bond issuance terms covering the borrower, principal promise, maturity, ownership record, offering documents, and repayment structure.

Funds and Portfolios

Bond index, fund, ladder, benchmark, and fixed-income portfolio-construction terms.

Trading and Plumbing

Bond-market auction, quote, broker, repo, stripping, clearing, and trading-infrastructure terms.

Prices and Yields

Bond pricing, yield, discount, premium, spread, accrual, and return-measure terms used in fixed-income analysis.

Embedded Options

Callable, putable, redeemable, retractable, extendible, and convertible bond terms used in embedded-option analysis.

Corporate Bonds

Corporate bond, debenture, high-yield, secured, unsecured, hybrid, structured, and thematic corporate debt terms.

Coupons and Interest

Bond coupon and interest-payment structures, including fixed coupons, deferred interest, PIK interest, zero-coupon bonds, and irregular coupon periods.

Ratings and Risk

Bond credit rating, spread, insurance, enhancement, downgrade, and credit-risk terms used in fixed-income analysis.

Rate Risk

Duration, convexity, curve-risk, holding-period, and interest-rate sensitivity terms for fixed income.

Floating and Inflation

Floating-rate, variable-rate, and inflation-linked bond structures that adjust coupons, principal, or redemption values using rates or price indexes.

Government Bonds

Treasury, agency, gilt, sovereign, government-backed, inflation-linked, and stripped government bond terms.

International Bonds

Foreign, eurobond, global, currency-linked, emerging-market, and country-nicknamed bond terms.

Municipal and Savings

Municipal, public-purpose, revenue, tax-exempt, savings, and retail government bond terms used in fixed-income analysis.

Revised on Sunday, June 21, 2026