All about Bonds: From the Inside Out

Glad to know that you enjoyed the first edition of All About Bonds. All about Bonds and Bond Mutual Funds is the 2nd edition, which is both updated and expanded from this first edition. In it, there is a separate chapter devoted to each type of bond and mutual fund. The Treasury security chapter, for example, includes information about the new Treasury inflation-indexed securities and inflation-indexed savings bonds. There are many new tables and diagrams which make it easier to read for both beginning investors and bond investors who want to increase their knowledge and investing skills.

Bonds ought to be easier to understand than stocks, but they're not. Actually, the nuances of bond features and bond selection can be confusing, even treacherous. Esme Faerber's book is a terrific primer for the bond neophyte, but to call this merely a bond primer does not quite do ALL ABOUT BONDS the justice it deserves. In truth, I failed to take the book's full measure until I came back to it a couple of times after perusing other texts. Faerber's book includes some worthwhile features, carefully described, which don't appear in many other bond primers. There is a formula for the calculation of DURATION, with a clear explanation. There is a very good explanation of CONVERTIBLE BONDS, which often are not discussed at all in bond primer texts. Each type of bond receives its own chapter, and each can be studied in isolation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...and still useful despite the book's age since publication.