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Bond Fact It would take 90 pages in your daily newspaper to list the more than 50,000 state and local entities that issue municipal securities and the 2 million separate bond issues available for trading. Source: SIFMA |
Municipal securities, or "munis," are bonds issued by states, cities, counties and other governmental entities to raise money to build roads, schools and a host of other projects for the public good.
Munis pay a specified amount of interest (usually semiannually) and return the principal to you on a specific maturity date. Most munis are sold in minimum increments of $5,000 and have maturities that range from short term (2–5 years) to very long term (30 years).
Muni Price Information
On January 31, 2005, investors gained the ability to see municipal bond prices in real-time when the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) began making intraday pricing information available for all municipal bond trades. Price data is available to investors and dealers alike at SIFMA's Web site. This information is also accessible on the left navigation of all pages of FINRA's Smart Bond Investing.
You can buy and sell municipal notes or bonds at issue or in the secondary market through the roughly 2,700 banks and brokerages registered to trade municipal securities. In spite of newly improved pricing transparency, be prepared to shop around for the best price, with different dealers often quoting you much different prices for the same bond.
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