The Bond Book: Everything Investors Need to Know About Treasuries, Municipals, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Bond Funds, Money Market Funds, and More [Hardcover]

"The Bond Book does a superb job of explaining simply and clearly what an investor needs to know about bonds. The second edition improves on upon the first by including recent innovations in the bond market, such as the Treasury’s inflation-linked securities. Investors who are new to the bond market will find this book to be a great guide for how to get started. Seasoned investors will find it to be a handy reference tool."
--Martin J. Mauro, Fixed Income Strategist, Merrill Lynch Private Client Group

"The Bond Book has many good lessons for fixed income investors and managers."
- A. Michael Lipper, Chairman and Founder Lipper, Inc.

"Annette Thau gives the investor the tools to build a secure financial future using cash flow assets. In the book, Ms. Thau carefully details the nuances of the securities, how they work, how to buy and sell them, and what to expect from them. She does it all in very clear, easy-to-understand language with plenty of examples. It’s a must for anyone who wants to use the power of compound interest to grow his or her money. This book illuminates what has been a dark corner of the investment world."
—Michael Shamosh, Senior Fixed Income Strategist, Gabriele, Hueglin & Cashman

"This book is meant to be practical. It assumes little or no knowledge of any bond investment, but it explains all of the critical information required to buy any security, be it a Treasury bond, a municipal bond, or a bond fund."
--From the Foreword

In today’s volatile financial environment, growing numbers of investors are looking to flee the stock market in search of safer ground. While the bond market has often been a "safe haven," confusing new bonds and bond funds make it increasingly difficult for unfamiliar investors to choose the correct fixed income investments.

The Bond Book, Second Edition, provides investors with the information and tools they need to make bonds a comforting, important, and profitable component of their portfolios. This comprehensive sourcebook, thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded from its bestselling first edition, now also includes:

• A new section listing free and low-cost ways to use the Internet—both for researching and buying bonds
• In-depth coverage of recently introduced securities including inflation-indexed bonds, I savings bonds, CMOs, emerging market bonds, and more
• A totally revised and expanded section on bond funds—fully explaining each type of fund along with fund returns from the past 15 years.

The Bond Book gives you a broad, useful overview of bonds. Straightforward and clear, it provides specific information and hands-on guidance to make bonds an important part of your investment portfolio—both today and in the future.

"You may, after reading this book, decide to allocate more of your portfolio, or less, to bonds, or to change the mix. Whatever you decide, the information contained in this book will enable you to invest in a more informed manner and, in turn, increase your returns."

The Bond Book is today’s best reference for making your best bond investment decisions. Look to this all-in-one guide for information on topics including:

• How to buy Treasuries without paying a commission
• Yield curves
• Types of high yielding savings bonds
• CMOs and REMICs
• Call risk
• Insured versus uninsured municipal bonds
• Tax concerns
• Duration
• Junk bonds
• Bond funds versus individual bonds
• Unit investment trusts and closed-end funds
• Bond ratings
• Index funds
• Asset allocation
• Swaps
• Discount versus premium bonds

Totally revised, thoroughly updated The Bond Book, Second Edition, will start you on the path toward making your own bond investment decisions with confidence—based on facts and historical performance figures instead of hype and headlines.