Questions tagged [municipal-bonds]

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Opportunity to buy Illinois bonds that can never default?

Today Illinois bonds were downgraded to 1 above junk. The article. Citation from article: Despite the lack of a budget, Illinois has continued to cover payments due on its bonds, and, like other states, has no ability to resort to bankruptcy to…
Tony
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Yield on municipal bonds versus treasury

I'm looking right now at the yields in Municipal bonds and Treasury bonds on Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us and I see that yields on Municipal bonds are lower than those on the corresponding maturity for…
Victor
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Yield of a municipal bond with a sinking fund?

How do I calculate my expected return if I buy a municipal bond at a premium with a sinking fund feature? For example, I'm looking at a bond with a coupon of 5.5%, maturing July 2015, with the following sinking fund schedule: Date Price …
Tony the Pony
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What could happen to Detroit Municipal bonds because of Detroit's filing for bankruptcy?

It seems like there's a massive sell off of bonds at this time, such as the municipal bond listed here, for Detroit, Michigan: MunicipalBonds.com – DETROIT MICHIGAN SERIES A - 251093XY1 What could happen to bonds such as these because of Detroit…
Jon
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Basic understanding of bonds, values, rates and yields

I'm looking for a very simplistic (ELI5) explanation of how bonds work, but I'm not sure I have the basics correct. As I understand it, a bond is basically a IOU or loan. Any company, government or municipality can ask for a loan. This loan comes…
skube
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Municipal Bond Fund tax risks?

I am looking at Tax-Exempt Municipal Bond Fund as a hassle free investment option. This is the first time I'm looking to invest outside of a retirement account, and having read up on the process of tracking dividends, cost basis of dividend…
AaronLS
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What do the terms par value, purchase price, call price, call date, and coupon rate mean in the context of bonds?

I am having a hard time understanding municipal bonds. What is the par value vs. purchase price? What is the call date? What is the call price? The coupon rate is just the interest paid out to you for investing in a bond, right?
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Taxation of muni bond bought at a premium

Interest received from municipal bonds is generally tax-exempt at the federal level (and at state level if purchaser resides in the issuer states). Conversely, does this mean that a purchaser cannot deduct the loss of the premium? In other words,…
Tony the Pony
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Tax Free Zero Coupon Bonds and Taxes

I am an investor in Municipal bonds, including tax free zero coupon bonds. Imagine an investor buys a tax free zero coupon bond at 20 and then keeps the bond for 3 years and sells the bond at 15. He has a capital loss. For tax purposes, can he add…
Bob
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Zero Coupon Tax Free Bonds

I live in the United States. I believe that if an investor owns zero coupon tax free municipal bonds,the interest from their bonds must be reported on their tax return using the accrual method. Note that the interest from these bonds might be…
Bob
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Municipal bonds for married couple in different states

I am living in Michigan (state income tax) and my spouse is living in Washington (no state income tax). We are interested in investing in municipal bonds. From my understanding, in order to take advantage of the tax-free coupon payments, a Michigan…
zilla
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Amending a Tax Return

A certain couple has filed their 2015 tax return and then they got a corrected 1099. The only thing that got changed was the amount of tax free interest they received. Since they are currently on medicare, they want to file for a correction. The…
Bob
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Why aren't muni bond yields driven to the point of indifference?

Why is there any point to munis? By that I mean, why aren't yields driven down to be equal to the after-tax yields of taxable bonds of similar maturities and credit quality? Obviously they are driven down somewhat, but why aren't they driven down to…
QuantumMechanic
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Does the Federal Reserve have the power to buy municipal bonds through quantitative easing?

Does the Federal Reserve (or any other central bank in any other country) have the power to buy municipal bonds through quantitative easing? If it does, where would I find out how much?
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How can I invest in bonds (either directly or indirectly) that meet specific, project-based criteria?

I was gifted a very small stock portfolio from my grandfather when I was young, so in addition to the usual indirectly-held, "melting pot" mutual funds that make up the bulk of most American investment portfolio, I hold a few individual stocks, now…
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