Customer Reviews

The Bond Book: Everything You Need to Know About Treasuries, Municipal, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Funds and More

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Thau provides a good, thorough overview of bonds from beginning to end, including what you need to know about "bond math." I came to this book as someone both interested and invested in the stock market and I wanted to expand my knowledge to include other types of investments. The Bond Book definitely served my purpose. I recommend it to any beginner or novice investor looking to learn more about the nuances and varieties of fixed-income securities.

This is a clear, thorough, comprehensive look at the world of bonds, starting with some general explanations and then going through each major category of bond in turn. The only problem is that the book is getting old and some of the examples and explanations are based on market conditions that no longer exist. However, the book is excellent and certainly stands the test of time.

I really liked this book. It was well written and organized clearly. Everyone is crazy about stocks, so not much is really known about bonds. I read another book on bonds and still was unsure. This book was different. It was clear and thorough on all types of bond issues and offers clear warning on risks. Bonds are not as safe as I thought - if you think they are, definitely read this book. Many good ideas on setting up safe portfolios that will do well over time.

Ms. Thau is the consummate teacher of this art/science. She anticipates the train of thought of the uninitiated, and leads by the hand through each step of this journey into the vast and ominous frontier of debt instruments with the reader saying at the end of almost every paragraph, "is that what they mean!"

This is THE book for the novice, and the opportunity for the stock savvy-bond stupid to come out of the closet and finally feel confident in both spheres of operation.

Thank you, Ms. Thau!

Although the subject of the book has very little "sexappeal," it is very informative for those who have alwayswondered why the media pays close attention to the bond market andU.S. Treasuries, and well as its significance. Included in the book is a very well-written section on asset-backed securities, another burgeoning market. Overall, great book for its intended target audience, but don't waste your time with this if you're an aspiring quant-jock / trader. From my recollection, I can only recall about 2 passages which allude to some sort of calculation. Try another book if you wish to have a more rigorous treatment of bond analysis and valuation.

As an individual investor, I hadn't had a significant amount of experience with the bond market. Thau's book was a pleasure to read, and I believe it touches on every topic one needs to understand to become an educated bond investor. In short, it rocked me like a hurricane. I highly recommend it.

The book is very concise, well written and very useful.I used it as one of my sources for an MBA thesis and the paper was very appreciated.It gives you a very good view of the fundamentals of bond.

This book is more than just a primer on bonds and other fixed income securities. The author goes into great detail on each type of instrument as well as the IMPORTANT risks involved. The concept of "Interest risk" as opposed to "Credit risk" is worth the price of the book alone. The only negative is that the book was published in 1992, which missed out on the ending of the "Junk Bond" fiasco.