Series 50: Bond Indexes

Bond Indexes

In addition to yield curves, some publications offer bond indexes as a measure of value. A bond index measures changes in the yields of a group of securities that are similar as to issue size, credit rating, sector, geography, or maturity date.

The Bond Buyer, a long-running municipal industry trade paper, publishes The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index (also known as The Bond Buyer Index, MBI, or BB40). The index is published daily and is an average of the yields for 40 recently issued actively traded municipal bonds. Twice a month, the Bond Buyer’s staff will add new issues that meet the selection criteria and delete those whose secondary market trading has become less active. The index is quoted in bond points and 32nds. This price is averaged from the prices of the new issues and adjusted to a standard 6% coupon rate. The unadjusted average is also reported. The average yield to maturity and the average yield to call