and might be best if you gave an overview of how ALL bonds work, esp. details of interest rates vs. price.
Then talk about the indiv. differences re: Treasury, Corporate, Municipal, the more concrete examples the better.

And pls DO cover the megative side of buying bonds that has been in the news since 2008.

Specifically, what happens when our pension funds are sold bad bonds ( re: mortgage fraud scenario, and student loans and used car loans, all of which are fraught with less underlying value than promised).

And hints of how I can get into the selling of bonds with no penalties when they become toxic, since it seems to work that way.

"I think you should put it all in one thread"

Yes?

cause all bonds have certain things in common, and I am STILL trying to grasp the interest rate/price idea, but if I read it, I will remember.
So one thread on overview
then each type of bond in a separate thread. ie: Municipal bonds = how are they raised and sold and who buys them and who ends up paying for them, who makes the money from selling, who makes the money from buying, and the downsides.
( I am thinking of poor Jefferson county here in Alabama ( Birmingham) that got royally screwed by buying bonds from Citibank that were over priced and under performing).

with a link back to the overview/ of bonds in general...which may or may not be a long post.

All of us voters in a state often vote on city/county/state bonds...with no clue what they are about, and what we should be thinking of,
looking for, and how to find out the information in a general way.

for example.....the topic is horses.
The overview is info. on what type of horses ( cold blood vs. warm blood) and where they came from and what kind are used for what tasks.
what is the difference between an Appaloosa, and a paint, etc.
then part 2.....quarter horses, for example...used for, their traits, their breed history, outstanding examples.
part 3....arabian
part 4 .....work horses...(Clydesdale, Shire, etc)

which is one way, but not the only way, to organize the subject.

that is how my mind works, but whatever you decide to do would be excellent information about an important finance topic.

and I appreciate the input, truly.

That's the point of the thread - to get a consensus. I already have ...I don't know.........probably 5000 words at least, already typed out and saved. Just which direction to go is what I am trying to determine.

Shocks me how many people are not financially literate, and there is always more to learn.

Having studied them in depth myself, I get shivers down my spine just THINKING about the complexity of these instruments. Since most bonds are held by institutional investors for clients, I don't know if many individual investors would get much value out of an exegesis of the wide varieties of debt securities out there. Just my humble opinion, but most people who want to invest in fixed income securities will likely do so thru mutual funds, and don't need a deep explanation of all the arcane differences between Treasury securities and FreddieMacs and GinnieMaes and corporate bonds.

of how they're issued, the primary differences between the 4 types mentioned in the OP, etc., but you're right, I could make a post that would print out for pages and pages!

Buying individual bonds is not beyond the average person, it's just that you're talking about a thousand dollars per, on average. So it is on a par with buying 100 shares of a ten dollar stock.

There are problems with buying pure bond Mutual Funds which I discussed in this post from the old DU a few years ago.

Bond funds are perfect for some portfolios and not so much for others. It all depends on the individual investor.

Thanks very much for your input, BTW. This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

I've started writing the post titled "Bond Basics" and every time I turn a corner there is another "basic" I have to add, and I KNOW I'm going to leave something important out.

Not even delving into the particulars of either corporates, Muni's or Treasuries, I already have in the neighborhood of 7500 words!

This is going to be one long ass project!

I'm writing in my spare time and it's getting close to being overwhelming.