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Evaluating Corporate Bonds (37)

Name:						Date:	March 19, 2016				37
Evaluating Corporate Bonds
Purpose: To determine if a specific corporate bond can help you attain your financial goals.
Instructions: No checklist can serve as a foolproof guide for choosing a corporate bond. However, the following questions will help you evaluate a potential bond investment.
Suggested Web sites:		finance.yahoo.com/education/bond				bondsonline.com			investinginbonds.com
money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson7/index.htm							apps.finra.org/investor_Information/smart/bonds/000100.asp
Category 1: Information about the Corporation						17. Is the bond secured with collateral? If so, what?					Your Personal Financial Plan
							Yes		No
1. What is the corporation's name, address and						Type of collateral:
phone number?
Name:						Category 3: Financial Performance
Address:
Phone:						18. What are the firm's earnings per share for the last
2. What types of products or services does this						year?
firm provide ?
						19. Have the firm's earnings increased over the
						past five years?
3. Briefly describe the prospects for this company.						20. What are the firm's projected earnings for the
(Include significant factors like product development,						next year?
plans for expansion, plans for mergers, etc.)
						21. Does your analysis indicate that this is a good idea
						to invest in this company? Why or why not?
Category 2: Bond Basics
4. What type of bond is this?						22. Briefly describe any other information that you
						obtained from Moody's, Standard & Poor's, or
5. What is the face value for this bond?						other source of information.
6. What is the interest rate for this bond?
7. What is the dollar amount of annual interest for this
bond?	$0.00
8. When are interest payments made to bondholders?
9. Is the corporation currently paying interest as						A Word of Caution
scheduled?		Yes		No
10. What is the maturity date for this bond?						The above checklist is not a cure-all, but it does
						provide some very sound questions that you should
11. What is Moody's rating for this bond?						answer before making a decision to invest in bonds.
						If you need other information, you are responsible
12. What is Standard & Poor's rating for this bond?						for obtaining it and for determining how it affects
						your potential investment.
13. What do these ratings mean?
14. What was the original issue date?
15. Who is the trustee for this bond issue?
16. Is the bond callable? If so, when?
Callable:
Date: