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Stocks Decline in Late Afternoon Trading (ABC News)
Dow, Nasdaq Slide in Late Afternoon Trading on Weakness in Regional Manufacturing

The Risks And Benefits Of Corporate Bonds

By: Bill Dufrane

Rarely will you find an investment where you gain a substantial reward without an equally substantial amount of risk. Let’s face it - the odds are stacked against you. Not only are there other huge banks and multinational corporations you have to compete against that have more capital than you will ever have, but there are millions of other investors trying to test their luck in the same market. Your choice of where to invest your money is therefore highly important. This is where corporate bonds come into play.

1. Corporate Bonds

Many times, corporations have great sales and service records but just don’t have the funds needed for a particular initiative. A corporate bond is high yield as essentially you are lending the company your money.

2. Credit Risk

Of course, you have to consider that many companies seek bonds because they are in financial trouble and need a quick cash injection to keep themselves afloat. It will be up to you to differentiate that companies are looking for a handout and that legitimately have a quality operation and simply need funds to expand and grow their business.

3. Corporate Bond Ratings

Credit risk on bonds is actually rated in an easily understandable fashion. Triple A bonds are very low risk, and similarly low yield. BB is considered junk - very risky but potentially insane payouts, all the way to D (avoid these at all costs).

4. Interest Rates

If you are going to be acquiring a bond, of the things you should look for, the interest rate is high on the priority list. Getting a bond with even a 1% better rate of interest can result in hundreds of additional dollars in your pocket each year. Since general interest rates can change, a bond purchased today offering 5% is worth less if interest rates in general rise to 8% a year later.

5. Life To Maturity

Many corporate bonds come with the option to be callable. This means that they can be redeemed prior to the date of maturity. Companies do this when interest rates fall, and they wish not to continue making high interest payments to bondholders. In essence, this is a form of corporate re-financing similar to that done by homeowners with their home equity. That callable feature represents the risk to an investor that, though initially receiving high interest payments, they may not be able to enjoy that same rate for the life of the bond. As a consequence, those bonds are often less expensive and have lower interest rates.

Article Source: http://www.noviceinvesting.com/Article

For more great corporate bond related articles and resources check out bondsadvisor.info

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Friedman, Billings, Ramsey settles trading charges (Market Watch)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Broker-dealer Friedman, Billings, Ramsey settled charges that it engaged in insider-trading and other activities while working on behalf of CompuDyne Corp., securities regulators said Wednesday.

Kimberly-Clark Options Trading Surges on Buyout Talk (Update3) (Bloomberg.com)
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Trading in options to buy shares of Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissue, rose 24-fold, the most in more than six years, on speculation the company may be bought.

Bonds - Are They Right For Your Portfolio?

By: Bill Dufrane

For those wishing to invest their money - usually those wishing to put away a tidy nest egg for retirement or their children for school - there are a lot of decisions to make. You can’t jump into just any arrangement, and especially not the first offer that comes your way. Perhaps the most pertinent question you might ask yourself when investing is, what should oneu invest in - in other words, what’s good to invest in right now?

1. Put Your Money First

The final aspect of investing in bonds shouldn’t be the qustion as to what you should buy or sell, but rather, how much capital you are going to gain in the form of dividends. Remember, you aren’t buying stocks, you are investing. This means you expect a return on your investment.

2. Stocks

If you plan on investing in stocks, a general rule is to hold them for at least 10 years. Stocks will, over this period of time, outperform any other possible investment. Don’t even think about real estate, bonds, or commodities, stocks are definately the way to go, and it is not uncommon to see returns of up to or over 10%.

Of course, that is not to say that stocks are always the safest choice. Few investors actually buy stock and hold it for ten or more years. Also, with the exception of mutual funds individuals tend not to invest in stocks in general, but rather in a particular company. Also, even then, times change because new and better technologies come to pass. General Electric no longer makes most of its revenue from light bulbs, for example.

2. Bonds

If youre going to go with a bond, first of all, expect to pay a minimum of $5,000. You will definately want to invest in a bond that is rated AA or higher, and stick to a well known, major brokerage to handle your investment. Even with inflation you can expect to make only 4% profit per year. Of course, 4% of $5,000 is only $200, but over a period of 10 years that turns into $2,000. Of course, in today’s economy $2,000 won’t even last a month for rent, food, utilties, etc. Even so, bonds have advantages no other instrument enjoys. Since they have a set interest rate and maturity date, their behavior is much more readily predictable, given plausible assumptions about interest rate changes and other economic factors. You can’t attribute this kind of reliability to stocks, for example.

3. Currencies Or Commodities

The beginning investor should never engage in trading commodities or currencies, such as FOREX. Don’t believe the hype surrounding these investments - there is a reason why so much money is floating around out there - people are losing it!

4. Real Estate

If you think that the value of real estate is always on the rise, think again. Although a great way to make substantial gains, if you are going to make any real money you have to be able to invest a lot of your capital - more than any other variety of investing. Many simply can’t do it part time and try to make it their full time job. Some succeed, many fail.

5. Funds

If you are looking to make some quick cash, funds offer a great alternative to direct investing. Mutual funds, one of the more common types, pool investor money and diversify investment (usually) into a variety of instruments - stocks, bonds, currency, commodities, etc. Investors save money by not incurring a fee for every trade, but pay management fees of one kind or another (usually annual), and those can eat substantially into overall return on your investment.

Article Source: http://www.noviceinvesting.com/Article

For more great bond related articles and resources check out www.bondshq.info

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Asian Stocks Fall in U.S. Trading, Led by BHP, Commodity Shares (Bloomberg.com)
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell in U.S. trading as reports showed U.S. economic growth slowed and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region contracted by the most in more than three years. BHP Billiton and other commodity shares led the decline.

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Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants . In such a plan …

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Top Rated Investment Bonds

By: Derek Marsh

Your typical independent investor will never be able to understand every aspect of bond investing. Research on bonds fills volumes. It is for this reason, therefore, that you do as much research as you can prior to investing, and if you can, take advantage of professional investors that can manage a portfolio for you.

1. Bond Ratings

Not all stocks are created equal - some are a strong buy whereas others are holds or sells. Bond ratings get assigned over 20 different possible designations, from AAA (Highest Grade) to C (May Be In Default) or worse. Also, those designations are backed by some of the most thorough historical and technical research on the planet.

2. High Predictability Makes A Safe Investment

Bonds always have an associated interest rate and a set maturity date. This makes bonds more predictable. Those two factors alone makes possible the use of an array of mathematical tools to provide predictions of future yields and price with a confidence unmatched by any other investment.

3. AAA Bonds

The absoulte best quality of bonds are ones that are rated AAA. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk, and thus, the least amount of reward. Interest payments are typically protected by a large or exceptionally stable margin and the principal is believed secure.

4. BAA Bonds

These are medium grade bonds and as such they are neither highly protected nor yeild a very high amount of return on your investment. BAA rated bonds are considered medium-grade obligations (i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured). Interest payments and principal security are thought adequate at the time the rating is made, but might prove unreliable in the long run.

5. B Bonds

Bonds with B rating are generally considered speculative. Interest and principal payments are not assured. In other words, invest at your own risk. In general, bonds with higher ratings tend to have lower yields, so B bonds can actually give you a higher return on your investment. In 1991, for example, those who gambled on lower rated bonds reaped the highest total returns.

6. Are Bonds Better Than Stocks?

Even at the lowest end of the scale, bonds outpace quite a few stocks. Of course, this is all averaged out, and some stocks do much better than even the highest bonds. Bonds also have a large minimum investment in capital - $5,000 dollars, and so arent for your entry-level investor.

Article Source: http://www.noviceinvesting.com/Article

For more great bond investing related articles and resources check out INVESTMENT-PORTAL.INFO

Bull Markets And Bear Markets

By: Adam Masterson

The difference between a bull and bear market is something that every sucessful investor knows. When the market moves downwards for a period of time the market is referred to as a bear market. Upward moving markets are bull markets. If a particular stock is doing well, it is said to be bullish. If it is losing value it is bearish. Of course, there are more to bull and bear markets than that, as you will soon discover.

1. Bull Also, Bear Markets

These terms refer only to long term fluxuations, not short term changes in the market conditions. This is because even during a bear market prices may increase temporarily.

2. A Reflection Of The Economy

Usually stock market conditions reflect the state of the economy. During bull markets the economy is doing well, unemployment is low and interest rates are reasonable. Bear markets usually occur during times of economic slowdown. Investors lose confidence and companies may begin laying off workers. At the extremes, an exaggerated bear market can lead to a crash brought on by panic selling. An exaggerated bull market can be caused by over-enthusiasm of investors. It leads to a market bubble that will eventually burst.

3. When To Make Money

Although most money can be made during bull markets, there are also opportunities during bear markets. Knowing the characteristics of each type of market allows investors to profit from them. As would be expected, when the market is bullish investors wish to buy up stock. The economy is doing well and people have extra money that they wish to invest in stocks. This creates a situation of short supply that drives up prices even higher. During bear markets, on the other hand, prices are falling so investors wish to unload their stocks and put their money in fixed-return instruments such as bonds. As money is withdrawn from the stock market, supply exceeds demand that drives prices down even further.

4. Bull Markets Offer The Best Opportunities

It is easiest to make money during a bull market. Getting in right at the beginning will allow you to make the most profits. During a bull market any dips in the market are temporary and should soon be corrected. The upward rising prices cant go on forever, though, so the investor needs to be able to gauge when the market reaches its peak and sell at that time.

5. When To Buy

Bear markets represent opportunities to pick up stocks at bargain prices. Getting in near the end of a bear market offers the greatest chance for profit. The prices will most likely fall before they recover, so the investor should be prepared for some short term loss. Short-selling is also an investment strategy during bear markets. Short selling involves selling stock that you do not own in the anticipation of further price drops, so that when it comes time to deliver you can buy the stock for less than you sold it.

Article Source: http://www.noviceinvesting.com/Article

For more great stock market related articles and resources check out optionshq.info

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