Introduction to U.S. Corporate Bonds
In this course, IBKR senior market analyst Steven Levine provides essential details about the U.S. corporate bond market, including the types of securities investors typically encounter such as secured and unsecured notes. We'll also offer you some tools to enable you to obtain a better understanding of the risks involved with corporate bonds and how they may be mitigated, as well as recent developments that have helped shape market dynamics. Lastly, we'll walk you through the IBKR Trader Workstation's Global Bond Scanner, where you can locate certain corporate bonds in the secondary market, create charts and conduct due diligence to help inform your investment decisions.
- Course Overview - U.S. Corporate Bonds
- Fundamental Analysis
- Primary Market: Constructing an Initial Sale
- Interest Rate Risk and Central Bank Support
- Course Overview - U.S. Corporate Bonds
- Credit Ratings
- Secondary Market (Part I): Trading with the IBKR Bond Scanner
- Secondary Market (Part II): Understanding Prices and Yields
Interest Rates
Investors balance their portfolios between equities and fixed income based on factors like risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and economic conditions, with the 60/40 rule serving as a flexible guideline. Hedging and speculation play a crucial role in managing market risk, with equities typically hedged using options, while fixed-income investors utilize futures contracts to navigate interest rate movements. Interest rate and government bond futures provide liquidity and strategic opportunities for investors to hedge risks, speculate on monetary policy changes, and manage exposure across different parts of the yield curve.
- Introduction to Monetary Policy
- Fixed Income and Bond Markets
- Bond Derivatives and Trading
- Entering Packs and Bundles for SOFR Futures Contracts on IBKR’s Trader Workstation