The Principles of Bond Investment

Enlightening basics on the nature of bonds and the science of investing in them.

The principles of bond investment are offered as a service to both bond sellers and bond investors. From a strictly academic standpoint, the development of bond investment is a science. Covered here are: channels of investment, including classification and description of bonds; civil loans; corporation loans; the mathematics and movement of bond prices; the classes of investors and bond houses; and the taxation of bonds.

This book presents a comprehensive early view of the principles of investment and reveals how bonds conform to them. Bonds had become a new channel of investment to meet the necessities of early American finance. Bond investment has been elevated to an applied science. This Second Edition is divided into six parts: Channels of Investment; Civil Loans; Corporation Loans; The Mathematics and Movement of Bond Prices; Investment Organization; and Taxation of Bonds. This detailed treatment should be of great interest to those involved in the world of finance as well as those merely interested in how bonds entered the financial scene and their scope and nature.

George William Edwards, economist, 1891-1954. He received an A.B. in 1911 from the College of the City of New York, and an A.M. in 1913 and a Ph.D. in 1917 from Columbia University. He was a professor of banking at Columbia and at New York University, and became the Dean of the School of Business and Civic Administration at the College of the City of New York, 1927-1932, and Chairman of the Department of Economics, 1927-1947. He was also with the Federal Reserve Board and Director of the Institute of International Finance. He authored numerous books on banking and finance.

PART ONE: CHANNELS OF INVESTMENT
I.	Introductory	3
II.	Gambling, Speculation and Investment	8
III.	Elements of an Ideal Investment	14
IV.	Diversification an Investment Principle	29
V.	Stocks versus Bonds	37
VI.	Channels of Investment	45
VII.	Bonds versus Mortgages	52
VIII.	Listed versus Unlisted Bonds	68
IX.	Classification and Description of Bonds: According to the Character of the Obligor	75
X.	Classification and Description of Bonds: According to the Security of the Bond	78
XI.	Classification and Description of Bonds: According to the Purpose or Function of the Issue	105
XII.	Classification and Description of Bonds: According to Conditions Attending Payment or Interest and Principal	110
PART TWO. CIVIL LOANS
XIII.	Nature of Civil Loans	123
XIV.	Foreign Civil Loans	127
XV.	United States Bonds	136
XVI.	State Bonds: The History of State Debts	148
XVII.	State Bonds: The Elements of Security	164
XVIII.	County Bonds	179
XIX.	City and Town Bonds: Municipal Assets	199
XX.	City and Town Bonds: Municipal Liabilities	225
XXI.	City and Town Bonds: Validity and Good Faith	245
XXII.	The Bonds of Tax Districts	265
PART THREE: CORPORATION LOANS
XXIII.	Railroad Bonds: Legal Protection and Physical Conditions	277
XXIV.	Railroad Bonds: Earning Power and Income Account	287
XXV.	Railroad Bonds: Valuation and the Capital Account	298
XXVI.	Equipment Trust Obligations	305
XXVII.	Steamship Bonds	326
XXVIII.	Public Utilities Securities	332
XXIX.	Street Railway Bonds	354
XXX.	Gas Company bonds	379
XXXI.	Water Company Bonds	398
XXXII.	Hydro-Electric Power Company Bonds	408
XXXIII.	Telegraphy and Telephone Bonds	423
XXXIV.	Real Estate Bonds	442
XXXV.	Industrial Bonds	457
XXXVI.	Bonds of the Federal Farm Loan System	479
XXXVII.	Timber Bonds	490
XXXVIII.	Reclamation Issues	502
PART FOUR: THE MATHEMATICS AND MOVEMENT OF BOND PRICES
XXXIX.	The Mathematics of Bond Values	521
XL.	The Use of Bond Tables	542
XLI.	The Keeping of Investment Accounts	562
XLII.	Bond Prices in Relation to the Business Cycle	573
PART FIVE: INVESTMENT ORGANIZATION
XLIII.	Classes of Investors	595
XLIV.	Bond Houses	603
PART SIX: TAXATION OF BONDS
XLV.	The Classification and Description of Taxes	615
Bibliography		667
Index		673