Recommended Reading

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These books offer good background information and many useful tips for following the bond markets and investing in fixed income securities.

The Strategic Bond Investor: Strategies and Tools to Unlock the Power of the Bond Marketby Anthony Crescenzi, McGraw-Hill, 2002. This book provides an excellent overview of various bond market sectors and their importance. It gives clear and easily understandable descriptions of key concepts, such as the yield curve and real interest rates. It gives you many of the tools that you need to make strategic decisions about determining fixed income sector weightings in your portfolio. It does not, however, offer all that much help in determining how to analyze and select individual bonds. The book is very well written. Although it is often repetitive, that repetition can be useful in driving home key points for those who are new to fixed income investing.

Bonds: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth by Hildy Richelson and Stan Richelson, Bloomberg Press, 2011 (2nd edition) Although the authors’ err by saying that you can’t lose any money by investing in high quality bonds, an all-bond portfolio can provide attractive returns at much lower risk than a stock-based strategy. The book’s primary strength is its description of the bond buying process, tax considerations and its advice on working with brokers. It gives useful tips for investors considering bond mutual funds. It also offers practical suggestions on how to structure a bond portfolio. But like Mr. Crescenzi’s book, it does not provide a lot of information about how to analyze and select individual bonds.

OTHER BOOKS

We have not read these fixed income books, but are either familiar with the authors or have read favorable reviews about them.

The Bond Book: Everything Investors Need to Know About Treasuries, Municipals, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Bond Funds, Money Market Funds and More, Third Edition, by Annette Thau, McGraw-Hill, 2011

Bond Math: The Theory Behind the Formulas. by Donald J. Smith, John Wiley & Sons, 2011

Bond Markets: Analysis and Strategies, 8th Edition, by Frank J. Fabozzi, Prentice-Hall, 2012

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Originally published February 28, 2008. Updated May 9, 2014.

Stephen P. Percoco
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© 2014 Lark Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Information is carefully compiled but not guaranteed to be free from error. Specific reference to any specific security should never be construed as a solicitation to either buy or sell. Reproduction without permission from the publisher is prohibited.