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| BondsOnline.com: instant access to and extensive coverage of over 3.5 million stocks, bonds, indexes and other securities covering major and emerging markets and exchanges across the globe. |
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| Bonds Online |
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| 5/10/2013Market Performance |
| Municipal Bonds |
|---|
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S&P National Bond Index
|
3.00% |
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S&P California Bond Index
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2.96% |
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S&P New York Bond Index
|
3.13% |
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S&P National 0-5 Year Municipal Bond Index
|
0.70% |
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| S&P/BGCantor US Treasury Bond |
400.09 |
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| More |
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| Income Equities: |
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| Preferred Stocks |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index
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848.03 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (CAD)
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636.26 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR)
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1,701.05 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR) (CAD)
|
1,276.26 |
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| REITs |
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S&P REIT Index
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174.07 |
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S&P REIT Index (TR)
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425.30 |
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| MLPs |
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S&P MLP Index
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2,469.58 |
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S&P MLP Index (TR)
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5,428.50 |
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See Data
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Making Sense Of The Muni Bond Market |
Forbes.com - July 30, 2010 - by Tom Collimore
Despite what you hear, savvy investors can still earn stable after-tax income.
The municipal bond market has over the past few years gone through its most tumultuous period in decades. State and local governments are under enormous stress. Bond insurers have flirted with insolvency. And a new form of taxable municipal debt, known as Build America Bonds, has emerged.
Following are excerpts from a discussion about the muni market conducted by Tom Collimore, director of investor education for the CFA Institute. Joining him are Paul Jungquist, CFA and Senior Portfolio Manager, SIT Mutual Funds, Steve Klein Principal, First Infrastructure Consulting and Kurt van Kuller, CFA, Director of Institutional Sales, Northeast Securities and former Manager of Municipal Credit Research, Merrill Lynch.
Collimore: Let's begin with a description of what municipal bonds are.
Van Kuller: The municipal bond market has about $3 trillion worth of debt outstanding at present. It's about as broad as the corporate bond market, if not more. There are general obligation bonds, which are backed by the creditworthiness of the cities, states and other issuers, plus many sectors of revenue bonds and project financings, including those backed by utilities, hospitals, universities, transportation authorities, housing, tobacco settlements and special assessments.
Historically, muni bonds have defaulted less frequently than corporate bonds. Is that trend likely to continue?
Van Kuller: In my view, yes. Local governments do not disappear. They have far less event risk [than corporate issuers]. Bankruptcies are extremely rare for municipalities. George Hempel did a study in which he determined that about 3,000 muni bonds defaulted during the Great Depression. That represented about 15% of the muni debt outstanding at the time, but investors ultimately recovered 99% of their investments.
For the complete article visit Forbes.com
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| Stuff to look at |
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| BondsOnline Advisor |
Income Security Recommendation January 2013 Issue.
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