In their simplest form, bonds are pretty straightforward. After all, just about anyone can comprehend the borrowing and lending of money. However, like many securities, trading and analyzing
bonds involves some more complicated underlying concepts.
The goal of this tutorial is to explain the more complex aspects of fixed-income securities. We'll reinforce and review bond fundamentals such as pricing and
yield, explore the term structure of interest rates, and delve into the topics of
duration and
convexity. (Note: Although technically a bond is a fixed-income security with a maturity of ten years or more, in this tutorial we use the terms “bond” and “fixed-income security" interchangeably.)
The information and explanations in this tutorial assume that you have a basic understanding of fixed-income securities.
(If you feel you need a refresher, please see
Bond Basics.)
