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Coupon rates are likely to vary when they are being traded in different markets with different interest rates. There will also be a variation in rates due to the different risk levels of of different bonds.

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Q: Why do the coupon rates for various bonds vary so much?
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How do bondholders get a return on zero coupon bonds?

Zero coupon bonds do not pay interest and are therefore sold at a steep discount to face value depending on the maturity date of the bond. Due to the time value of money, the discount on a 30 year zero coupon bond will be much greater than on a 10 year zero coupon bond. At maturity bondholders will receive the full face value of the bond which provides bondholders a return. For example, a 30 year zero coupon bond with a face value of $1,000 and sold for $500 would return a $500 profit after 30 years. Holders of zero coupon bonds can sell the bonds at any time before maturity. If an investor bought zero coupon bonds prior to a steep drop in interest rates, the value of the zero coupon bonds would increase and could be sold at a profit.


How are Savings bonds different from other bonds?

There are two kinds of bonds: coupon and zero-coupon bonds. A coupon bond pays interest on a periodic schedule--and what the schedule is depends on the bond. When you get the bond, it's got a certain number of coupons attached to it. Each one is dated and says how much interest you will receive when you redeem it. The main part of the bond is the corpus--the "body"--and when redeemed, you will receive the money you spent to buy the bond back. If you buy an investment-grade coupon bond, and its face value is $1,000, you need $1,000 to buy the bond. Note I said "investment-grade" here. If you buy a coupon bond that's in the junk category, quite often they sell at a discount from face value. But junk bonds are a world of their own. Savings bonds are zero-coupon bonds. They sell at a discount from face value--right now it's 50 percent, so if you want a $100 savings bond you need to bring $50. When the bond matures and is redeemed, you will receive the face value of the bond. There are no periodic interest payments with these bonds.


Zero Coupon Bonds?

When you buy a standard bond you invest in an instrument that pays interest. The rate of interest paid is also known as the coupon rate, or just coupon for short. If you invest $10,000 in bonds priced at par, or 100, with a coupon of 3%, you know you'll receive 3% annually and get your principal back at par upon maturity. So if you are an astute reader and you noticed the title of this post you know it has something to do with zero coupon bonds. According to what we know about how bonds work why would anybody put their money into a bond that doesn't' pay interest? It's true that zeroes don't pay out in regular interest payments like bonds that pay a coupon. But that doesn't mean you don't get compensated for your investment. The way a zero coupon bond works is that you buy it at an initial discount to par and upon maturity you receive par. As an example, let's assume you wanted to buy $10,000 worth of zero coupon bonds. Instead of receiving a price of par, or 100, you're given a discounted price of, say, 85. This means that if you invest $8,500 now, upon maturity you'll receive the full $10,000. The difference between what you paid and the maturity amount becomes your interest income. The bonds are assumed they are earning interest each year even though they don't pay you any actual money. In bondspeak this is referred to as the bond's accretion. One catch here is that the IRS still charges you income tax on that theoretical income. It calls it imputed income. One way to legally sidestep having to pay income tax on accreted income is to invest in zeroes within your IRA, 401(k), or other tax sheltered investment account. One of the benefits (or drawbacks) to zero coupon bonds is that you don't have actual money coming to you that you must reinvest at current rates. This can work to your advantage if you bought your zero before rates fell because instead of having to reinvest your income at new lower rates you're locked in. However, the opposite is true if rates rise and that can be a major drawback to zeroes. Since they return absolutely nothing to you until maturity they are much more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations than standard bonds. The longer maturity on the zero the greater this amplified effect can be. On a long maturity zero coupon bond you are locking in a rate of interest not only for your principal but also on the imputed income for a long period of time. You don't have the option to invest the income spun off the bond at different rates so you are much more affected by interest rate changes than an investor in regular bonds for the total length of time to maturity.


How much is flood insurance cost?

Flood Smart.gov (http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/choose_your_policy/policy_rates.jsp) has a list of various policy rates you can check to see how much flood insurance will cost.


When the market rate of return for a particular bond is much less than its coupon rate the bond is selling at?

If the current interest rate is lower than the coupon rate, a bond will be priced at a premium. For example, a bond originally issued at par with a 5% coupon would initially yield 5% to an investor. If market rates subsequently dropped to 3%, the bond would be selling at a premium to reflect the lower interest rate. In this example, the original bond sold for $1,000 and had a coupon rate of 5% to yield $50 per year in interest. If interest rates dropped to 3%, the price of the bond would increase to approximately $1,667. A purchaser of the bond would still receive $50 per year in interest which would provide an annual yield of 3% ($50/$1,667 = 3.0%).

Related questions

How do bondholders get a return on zero coupon bonds?

Zero coupon bonds do not pay interest and are therefore sold at a steep discount to face value depending on the maturity date of the bond. Due to the time value of money, the discount on a 30 year zero coupon bond will be much greater than on a 10 year zero coupon bond. At maturity bondholders will receive the full face value of the bond which provides bondholders a return. For example, a 30 year zero coupon bond with a face value of $1,000 and sold for $500 would return a $500 profit after 30 years. Holders of zero coupon bonds can sell the bonds at any time before maturity. If an investor bought zero coupon bonds prior to a steep drop in interest rates, the value of the zero coupon bonds would increase and could be sold at a profit.


How are Savings bonds different from other bonds?

There are two kinds of bonds: coupon and zero-coupon bonds. A coupon bond pays interest on a periodic schedule--and what the schedule is depends on the bond. When you get the bond, it's got a certain number of coupons attached to it. Each one is dated and says how much interest you will receive when you redeem it. The main part of the bond is the corpus--the "body"--and when redeemed, you will receive the money you spent to buy the bond back. If you buy an investment-grade coupon bond, and its face value is $1,000, you need $1,000 to buy the bond. Note I said "investment-grade" here. If you buy a coupon bond that's in the junk category, quite often they sell at a discount from face value. But junk bonds are a world of their own. Savings bonds are zero-coupon bonds. They sell at a discount from face value--right now it's 50 percent, so if you want a $100 savings bond you need to bring $50. When the bond matures and is redeemed, you will receive the face value of the bond. There are no periodic interest payments with these bonds.


Zero Coupon Bonds?

When you buy a standard bond you invest in an instrument that pays interest. The rate of interest paid is also known as the coupon rate, or just coupon for short. If you invest $10,000 in bonds priced at par, or 100, with a coupon of 3%, you know you'll receive 3% annually and get your principal back at par upon maturity. So if you are an astute reader and you noticed the title of this post you know it has something to do with zero coupon bonds. According to what we know about how bonds work why would anybody put their money into a bond that doesn't' pay interest? It's true that zeroes don't pay out in regular interest payments like bonds that pay a coupon. But that doesn't mean you don't get compensated for your investment. The way a zero coupon bond works is that you buy it at an initial discount to par and upon maturity you receive par. As an example, let's assume you wanted to buy $10,000 worth of zero coupon bonds. Instead of receiving a price of par, or 100, you're given a discounted price of, say, 85. This means that if you invest $8,500 now, upon maturity you'll receive the full $10,000. The difference between what you paid and the maturity amount becomes your interest income. The bonds are assumed they are earning interest each year even though they don't pay you any actual money. In bondspeak this is referred to as the bond's accretion. One catch here is that the IRS still charges you income tax on that theoretical income. It calls it imputed income. One way to legally sidestep having to pay income tax on accreted income is to invest in zeroes within your IRA, 401(k), or other tax sheltered investment account. One of the benefits (or drawbacks) to zero coupon bonds is that you don't have actual money coming to you that you must reinvest at current rates. This can work to your advantage if you bought your zero before rates fell because instead of having to reinvest your income at new lower rates you're locked in. However, the opposite is true if rates rise and that can be a major drawback to zeroes. Since they return absolutely nothing to you until maturity they are much more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations than standard bonds. The longer maturity on the zero the greater this amplified effect can be. On a long maturity zero coupon bond you are locking in a rate of interest not only for your principal but also on the imputed income for a long period of time. You don't have the option to invest the income spun off the bond at different rates so you are much more affected by interest rate changes than an investor in regular bonds for the total length of time to maturity.


Why are Brazilian bonds so alluring?

Brazilian bonds are offering very high interest rates right now because Brazilian money is not worth as much as other currencies at the moment.


What one of these is not usually associated with bonds a coupon rate b maturity value c face amount d maturity rate?

Coupons, face amount, maturity value and maturity rate all are associated with bonds. Coupons are a type of bond and the face amount tells how much the coupon is worth until it matures, gaining interest.


What is the relationship between interest rates and bond prices?

There is an inverse relationship between price and yield: when interest rates are rising, bond prices are falling, and vice versa. The easiest way to understand this is to think logically about an investment. You buy a bond for $100 that pays a certain interest rate (coupon). Interest rates (coupons) go up. That same bond, to pay then-current rates, would have to cost less: maybe you would pay $90 the same bonds if rates go up. Ignoring discount factors, here is a simplified example, a 1-year bond. Let's say you bought a 1-year bond when the 1-year interest rate was 4.00%. The bond's principal (amount you pay, and will receive back at maturity) is $100. The coupon (interest) you will receive is 4.00% * $100 = $4.00. Today: You Pay $100.00 Year 1: You receive $4.00 Year 1 (Maturity): You Receive $100 Interest Rate = $4.00 / $100.00 = 4.00% Now, today, assume the 1-year interest rate is 4.25%. Would you still pay $100 for a bond that pays 4.00%? No. You could buy a new 1-year bond for $100 and get 4.25%. So, to pay 4.25% on a bond that was originally issued with a 4.00% coupon, you would need to pay less. How much less? Today: You Pay X Year 1: You Receive $4.00 Year 1 (Maturity): You Receive $100 The interest you receive + the difference between the redemption price ($100) and the initial price paid (X) should give you 4.25%: [ ($100 - X) + $4.00 ] / X = 4.25% $104 - X = 4.25% * X $104 = 4.25% * X + X $104 = X (4.25% + 1) $104 / (1.0425) = X X = $99.76 So, to get a 4.25% yield, you would pay $99.75 for a bond with a 4.00% coupon. In addition to the fact that bond prices and yields are inversely related, there are also several other bond pricing relationships: * An increase in bond's yield to maturity results in a smaller price decline than the price gain associated with a decrease of equal magnitude in yield. This phenomenon is called convexity. * Prices of long term bonds tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than prices of short term bonds. * For coupon bonds, as maturity increases, the sensitivity of bond prices to changes in yields increases at a decreasing rate. * Interest rate risk is inversely related to the bond's coupon rate. (Prices of high coupon bonds are less sensitive to changes in interest rates than prices of low coupon bonds. Zero coupon bonds are the most sensitive.) * The sensitivity of a bond's price to a change in yield is inversely related to the yield at maturity at which the bond is now selling.


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Flood Smart.gov (http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/choose_your_policy/policy_rates.jsp) has a list of various policy rates you can check to see how much flood insurance will cost.