Corporate Bond Quotes

Understand corporate bond quotes The financial press prints bond quotes for the largest bond issues every week. A guide to reading the quotes is included with this table. This is a great place to start learning about quotes on bonds. It is also important to monitor trading in corporate bonds, so you can understand how market forces affect rates on corporate bonds.

I recommend:  The first thing to do is understand how corporate bonds work. PIMCO has an excellent introduction. It is also important to get a sense of the broader corporate bond market. The Wall Street Journal provides a variety of rates on corporate bonds.

Find corporate bond quote providers and updates Getting good quotes requires balancing time and money. If all you need to do is see the shape of the yield curve, this is available for free on most websites that provide financial news. On the other hand, a bond trader prefers trade-by-trade updates and this can be expensive. For the typical individual investor however, daily or weekly corporate bond quotes are adequate.

I recommend:  The New York Times provides daily updated data on the most active bonds in the investment grade, high-yield, and convertible categories. Yahoo provides a bond screener that allows you to input a variety of bond characteristics, and then it finds matching bonds. This tool provides the most recent quotes on corporate bonds, along with a debt rating. InvestinginBonds.com also provides an interactive data tool for corporate bond rates.

Work closely with a professional who specializes in corporate bond quotes Since your ultimate goal is to direct an investment strategy, it is important to discuss any investment plan with a qualified professional. Working closely with them on a regular basis is a great way to keep yourself up-to-date with fluctuating corporate bond rates.

I recommend:  Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) are highly regarded and held to a high ethical standard. To find a CFP in your area, go to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. and search for a practitioner by zip code. The National Association of Financial Professionals also provides a search tool. Finally, if you have a broker or banker you currently work with, they can also help develop your bond portfolio.