A Good Source for Bond Quotes
Finding bond quotes on the Internet is somewhat challenging. Real-time stock and mutual fund information is pretty ubiquitous nowadays. Options are out there too. Bond quotes seem to largely remain in the realm of expensive subscription data services.
You can get bond quotes through your brokerage relationship. Many have lists of issues for sale on their client web site. Sometimes you can also contact the trading desk directly. But this resource could be skewed toward bonds they currently favor, such as ones the firm has underwritten or carries in inventory. Chase actually makes clients call a broker (often known today as a “Financial Advisor”) to get bond quotes. Those quotes always seem to come with a sales pitch for higher commissioned products like mutual funds.
Several web sites found through Google purport to offer bond quotes. But every one I have seen looks poorly maintained and requires registration for access. That can be a big waste of time. You might fill out the form to register and the next screen asks for a credit card. Then you might try the service and find that it is junk.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, offers a reasonably robust bond data center. No registration is required to use the site. It allows you to search by any issuer or CUSIP. You can find bond prospectuses. It lists recent trade executions, coupon, yield information, ratings, call features and other important data points. Find it here:
http://finra-markets.morningstar.com/BondCenter/Default.jsp
Unless you are willing to pay more than $20,000 per year for a Bloomberg Terminal this might be the best resource out there.
© 2016 invessentials.com – Essentials of Investing Articles presented here are general opinions for your own consideration. They are not specific advice for any one investor.
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