Understanding the Bond Market

随着市场变得不稳定，许多投资者转向债券作为股票的替代品. 虽然债券可以在一个多元化的投资组合中发挥不可或缺的作用, 投资者在投资前应充分了解其特点. Bonds are often deemed a "safe" investment. However, investors need to be aware that bonds, like all investments, do carry some risk, and those risks need to be considered carefully.

Bond Fundamentals

If you are considering purchasing, or have already purchased, bonds for your portfolio, you should understand that not all bonds are created equal. While they are all considered debt instruments, 债券是由不同的实体为不同的目的而创造的，具有不同的风险和与税收相关的责任. Simply put, 债券是由公司和政府申慱sunbet手机版发行的，以资助其日常运作或为特定项目提供资金. When an investor buys a bond, he or she is, in fact, 在一定时期内借钱给债券发行人. In return for loaning funds, investors receive the principal amount back, with interest, at the time the bond comes due or "matures."

A bond's face value, or the price at issue, is known as its "par value," and the interest payment is known as its "coupon.“债券的价格会像股票一样在交易日中波动. However, with most bonds, 息票支付将保持不变(确实存在一些浮动利率证券)。. 如果投资者在二级市场以面值购买债券, the bond is considered to be sold at "par.如果债券的价格高于其面值，就会溢价出售. If a bond's price is below face value, it is sold at a discount.

Understanding Yields

如前所述，票面利率是支付给债券的利率. This amount is expressed as a percent of par value (normally $1,000). 例如，4%的票面利率表示债券每年支付的利息为40美元. 当前收益率表示投资者每投资一美元所获得的当前收益率, without any 对购买价格与到期价值之间的差异进行调整. The current yield rate is useful when comparing current yields on various income investments. 到期收益率表示投资者将获得的总体利率， 包括对购买价格和1000美元到期价值之间任何差异的调整.

拆款收益率表示投资者将获得的总体利率, including adjustments for any differences between the 购买价格和赎回价格，如果债券被发行人赎回. It is important that investors make note 他们正在考虑购买的任何债券的到期收益率和赎回收益率.

Laddering

投资者永远无法完全确定债券收益率的走势. A popular way for investors to help balance 债券投资组合的风险和回报是利用一种叫做阶梯的技术. To build a laddered portfolio, investors 在投资期限内购买不同期限的债券. By staggering maturities, 投资者或许能够减少利率变化对其投资组合的影响.

For example, 希望创建阶梯投资组合的个人可以购买每年在一段时间内到期的债券 ten years. By using a rollover strategy as well, when the first bond matures, the investor could reinvest those funds in a bond that matures in ten years. As each bond matures, the investor would continue this process. After ten years, the 投资者将拥有所有10年期债券，每年有一个到期. By laddering the bond portfolio, an investor can worry less about fluctuations in interest rates. 如果利率上升，他或她很快就会有可用的钱 a maturing bond, to take advantage of a new bond. 如果利率应该下降，那么投资者至少已经做到了 to secure higher rates for a portion of the portfolio. 此策略也可用于定期存单(cd).

The Effect of Taxes

许多投资者认为市政债券具有税收优惠的吸引力. However, it is important for investors to compare 将税收优惠债券用于应税投资，以便确定最适合自己情况的投资.

In order to compare rates of return on investments, 将免税税率调整为“应税当量”税率是有帮助的. 这是为了获得相同的免税净税率而必须获得的应税税率, after paying federal income taxes. To calculate the taxable equivalent rate, 只需将免税税率除以1减去联邦税率等级. 例如:假设投资者的联邦边际税率为28%，一项投资的免税税率为4%, the taxable equivalent rate would be 5.56% (4% /1-.28 = 5.56%).

Based on this calculation, the investor would have to earn 5.在一项需要缴纳联邦所得税的投资中占56% the same 4% that the tax-free investment offered.

Knowing the Risks

虽然债券产生的收入通常是“固定的”，但债券的回报却并非如此. There are many risks that may affect a bond's return.