Archive : Bonds

Following Monday’s stock market rally, United States markets opened higher ahead of another meeting of finance ministers in the Euro zone who are coming under pressure to find a permanent solution to the lingering debt crisis in the region, although gains were tempered by a housing report that showed a decline in single-family home prices for the month of September. In a bond auction on Tuesday, [...]

US markets were trending higher on Friday on thin volume after closing lower for six days in a row.  Investors snapped up beaten down sectors ahead of the stock market’s 1 pm closing, with technology and financials leading all ten sectors of the S&P 500 higher in early trading. In spite of these modest early morning gains, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remain on schedule [...]

The Euro was trading heavily today as both Spanish and Italian sovereign debt forced it to lose the gains that it had made during the Asian market. Traders were particularly concerned about the rising bond yields of both countries which, have been exposed to the positive news of the weekend and the departure of Berlusconi, one again became bogged down in negative sentiment. Bond yields are a particular [...]

Until pretty recently, only financial journalist and the investment community would have heard of the major ratings agencies; Fitch’s, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s. However, as the sovereign debt crisis has raged in Europe for the past year and a half, these major players in the world of finance have become household names. For those of you who are not familiar with the ratings agencies or [...]

If the default of Greece was a video game, we would be playing at the final stage just before the Game Over screen! Since Standard & Poor’s gave the country the world’s lowest credit rating this week, the Greek government seems unable to handle the situation. Meanwhile the Euro is not doing well either, falling from 1.47 to 1.41 today. What about the private investors who trusted the 5 Year [...]

Bond is a type of security that can be said to be somewhat of a loan. A loan is an amount that is borrowed from another party and paid back in full with or without interest. Bonds are similar to loans except that, they are issued by corporations, institutions (both government and private), military etc. Bonds are another means for an organization to raise money for its various plans. Issuing bonds [...]

Understanding premium bonds by sheer definition is easy since they are simply bonds that are worth more than its par value. But if you are not well-versed on the different economic terminologies, buying a bond could be a risky business, unless you fully understand the factors that affect the price movements of the bonds. So when a friend got all too excited with how much his bond sold at a higher price [...]

Government bonds are simply bonds issued by the national government and its denomination is of course in the currency of the country where it was issued. Like in the U.S., government bonds are issued by the U.S. Treasury in the value of US dollars while other countries use their own denomination. But aside from this simple definition of what government bonds are, there are other factors on why it is [...]

Bonds are an ideal form of long term investment that can make an excellent addition to any portfolio. Bonds are often useful for people who wish to invest a large portion of money without taking the risks that are inherent in investing in the stock market. Although bonds may not bring about as large a return as stocks potentially could, they are much more secure and are likely to ensure a good return [...]

Corporate bonds are totally different from corporate bonds. Essentially, corporate bonds are considered more risky when compared with corporate bonds. Expect unpleasant results once the company which issued the bonds incurred losses or dwindled. Aside from the state of the company itself, investors should also take into consideration the market condition—which could be bad at times. Inflation and [...]