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Corporate Bonds to Buy Now

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Get Up to Speed on Corporate Bonds

• Bond Basics click here

• About Corporate Bond Ratings click here

Here are 12 bonds divided into four categories: Conservative, Aggressive, Speculative, and "Walk on the Wild Side." For the first three categories, the bonds are rated investment quality by Standard & Poor's. Bonds in the "Walk on the Wild Side" category are either below investment grade (junk) or not rated.

Each bond is identified by a unique nine-character CUSIP number. The first five characters identify the company, and the last four identify the particular security. Bond availability changes from day-to-day and your broker's website may not list a particular bond. If so, call your broker's fixed-income department and ask about its availability.

Yield to maturity (YTM) is the average annual return that you would realize if you held a bond until its maturity date.

About Bond Listings
Our portfolios feature non-callable bonds that are trading at above-average yields to maturity, based on their credit ratings and maturity dates. We list the last bond trading price as of the portfolio date. Bonds trade in batches and a particular bond will probably not be offered at the exact traded price listed when you look it up on your broker's site. Call your broker's fixed-income department if you can't find a bond at a price close to the listed price. They may be able to help. 

A deleted listing is not necessarily a "sell" signal. It means that the bond may not be currently actively traded, or that we have found a more attractive alternative.

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May Recap (6/4/20)
In terms of trading prices, many of our bonds moved up substantially last month, typically around 5% to 10%. Best buys include  Prospect Capital 6.000% rated BBB and yielding 9.2% to their 2/15/24 maturity and Tesoro Logistics 6.375% rated BBB  that is yielding 6.4% to its 5/1/24 maturity.

Data: 6/4/20 

KEY

Name in BOLD: New listing • Rating in bold green: credit-rating recently upgraded • Rating in bold red: recently downgraded

Conservative

Non-callable bonds rated A+ to AAA by S&P.

Aggressive

Non-callable bonds rated A or A- by S&P.

Speculative  

Non-callable bonds S&P rated BBB+, BBB, or BBB- (lowest investment grade).

Walk on the Wild Side

Non-callable junk or unrated bonds. 

NR = Not Rated

Information believed correct, but accuracy not guaranteed, so verify everything before investing.  

Investing in bonds involves risk. Readers should not assume that recommendations will be profitable or will equal the performance of past recommendations. Before investing, consult with a financial advisor to determine if the bonds described here are suitable investments for you. 

Bond Investing Strategies

Specific Needs
Select bonds with maturities that match your need for the principal. For instance, pick a five-year maturity if you will need to withdraw the principal in five years to finance a college tuition.

Retirement Income
Many experts advise investors holding bonds primarily for income to consider a laddering strategy (see Bond Basics).

Bond Traders
Shorter-term investors should consider selling existing holdings when similar bonds with more attractive yields become available.