Government Bonds

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I'm looking for debt ratings of government bonds. I am aware that Moody's, among others, publish debt ratings of most major countries, but I cannot find them. Thanks. Well, I would just like to know the debt ratings of some of the major economies, like the US, UK, Japan, and Australia. I'll take any of those that you can find.

Best Answer

You need to subscribe to get the ratings from Moody's - which bonds are you interested in specifically I could help you. There are other agencies, Standard & Poor's for example. Which country are you interest in?

Do they have a website? Or can I go to the court house? The post office? Where can I go to buy US government bonds?

Best Answer

If you do not have a regular brokerage, try treasury direct: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/ The type of bond determines where you can purchase it, so you need to decide which type of bond you would like to purchase first. Bonds are debt obligations. Federal bonds are issued by the federal government, while municipal bonds are issued by state governments or local municipalities. In either case, the revenues from the bonds are generally used for financing government projects or activities. These bonds are also different from regular bonds in that many of them offer special tax incentives for the investors. For federal bonds, the interest earned is generally exempt from any state and local taxes. For municipal bonds the interest earned is free from federal taxes and generally any associated taxes from the region where the bond was issued. Investors can purchase both federal and municipal government bonds from a variety of sources such as brokerages or banks. The exception to this occurs with federal savings bonds. The U.S. Treasury offers a service whereby you can purchase these bonds directly from the U.S. government through its website or a regional Federal Reserve Bank. http://www.federalreserve.gov/

I was told that Government Bonds are a really good investment. I've done a search and can't find any useful info. Could someone please tell me if they are good, what interest rate I could expect, and how do you make this investment. Serious answers only please. I live in UK.....

Best Answer

A government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's own currency. Bonds issued by national governments in foreign currencies are normally referred to as sovereign bonds. Government bonds are usually referred to as risk-free bonds, because the government can raise taxes or simply print more money to redeem the bond at maturity. Some counterexamples do exist where a government has defaulted on its domestic currency debt, such as Russia in 1998- the "rouble crisis" , though this is very rare. An example of somewhat risky bonds issued by a government can be given with countries that have less than perfect capabilities of conducting financial policies. Such an example is Bulgaria due to its being dependent on the world economy and economic institutions much more than, say, the US. Some of this country's bonds were only given an A-scale rating after 2004. As of February 2006 Standard & Poor's rates Bulgaria's long-term debt denominated in domestic currency at BBB+. And this rating is the result of almost a decade of constantly decreasing risk (and increasing ratings). We should also note that this country's short-term debt is in fact currently rated A.

My parents gave me government bonds they purchased years ago and I just started grad school. Not a dependent as I'm 30+. Some of the bonds have matured, some have not. When is the best time to use these to pay school loans? Or can I use these instead of taking loans? And will using these affect my reported income for school loans next year if I use them now?

Best Answer

the ones that have matured can be cash and should be used rather than borrowing == they will not be considered as income so will not effect your loan!!!

I live in the USA.I am looking for a channel to sell some Iceland Denominated government Bonds i have access to. I need to find out if there are any banks that will list foreign securities like these for sale. Or any other channel used for individuals to list foreign debt insruments.

Best Answer

Talk to ANY major brokerage house. Bonds get traded 24hrs a day all over the world in all denominations. I am in the US, we trade Euro based product well after London shuts down...and I know we're not the only ones.