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Not investment advice. Educational reading. See Disclaimer.
L.1 · BEGINNER · 2 MIN

What Is a Bond?

A bond is a loan you make to a company or government. In return, they pay you fixed interest (the coupon) and return your principal when the bond matures.

Quiz · 5 questions ↓
§ 01
FeatureBondsStocks
What you ownA loan (you are the lender)Partial ownership of the company
IncomeFixed coupon payments (predictable)Dividends (optional, variable)
UpsideLimited (face value at maturity)Unlimited (stock can keep rising)
DownsideLimited (default = partial/total loss)Total loss possible
Priority in bankruptcyPaid before stockholdersPaid last
§ 02
Current Yield = Annual Coupon / Bond Price
§ 03
Open the **Credit** view in the Ledge to explore bond data. Look at how bonds are described by coupon, maturity, and credit rating.
§ 04

Bonds are the foundation of fixed-income investing. They trade certainty (fixed payments) for limited upside. For retirees and conservative investors, that trade-off is exactly right.

§ 05
You buy a 10-year bond with a 5% coupon at par ($100). Six months later, market interest rates have risen to 7%. What happens to your bond's market price?
Five questions · AI feedback

Sit with the ideas.

You buy a $1,000 bond with a 5% annual coupon. How much interest do you receive each year?

Why:
Try this in paper trading

Buy a bond ETF after the duration lesson

Pick a Treasury or aggregate bond ETF (e.g., IEF, AGG, BND, TLT). Paper-buy 50 shares. Journal what you expect the position to do if the 10-year yield moves up 100 bps versus down 100 bps.

Open paper portfolio →

Practice mode — simulated trades, not investment advice.

See it on a real ticker →