Bond-market

Gross is an excellent bond trader (and thats the key word, he actively trades, PIMCO trades) no doubt about it, but Middleton makes a read much like Bonners "Financial Reckoning Day" he just keeps repeating his mantra: Total Return.

In total honesty you could summarize this book in the following words: active buying and selling of bonds will give you "total return." What counts as total return is the coupon and the price you make from selling. There are no "secrets" as alleged on the slick paper wrapper and there is very little "Gross." Its all Middleton's fluff and it looks like he would do quite well in a prior era where people were paid by the word.

Even after 17 years as a financial journalist, I knew precious little about Bill Gross, one of this country's richest men and greatest investors. Yes, I knew that Gross was the acknowledged king of the bond market, the Warren Buffet of the fixed-income set. But I had little appreciation for the scope or scale of his accomplishments or the methodology behind them. Thanks to this entertaining book from Timothy Middleton, a former colleague of mine at Dow Jones, I now consider my education more complete. "The Bond King" is fun reading, and, for the value-conscious, three books in one: a lively personality profile that benefits from Middleton's behind-the-scenes access to Gross over the course of nine months of research, a primer on the bond market, and a how-to manual for anyone interested in trying to mimic Gross's success. For good measure, the book also includes portraits of three legendary investors who influenced Gross's career: speculators Jessie Livermore and Bernard Baruch, and financier J. Pierpont Morgan. While reading "The Bond King" may not make you an all-star bond investor--for that, you'd need not just Gross's recipe but also his genius--it will make you a better bond investor. And if you just want to know more about a man who will go down as one of the legendary investors of our era, "The Bond King" is a perfect read for the beach this summer.

I've been a Bill Gross fan for a long time, and this book really provides terrific insights into what makes the man tick and what makes his investing style so successful. I've caught glimpses of both those things in a handful of magazine articles over the years, but this book paints the whole picture. I have long believed that bonds should play an important role in any investor's portfolio, but I felt like I was howling into the wind through the late '90s. The stock market collapse was reality's slap in the face for a lot of "equity-heads." Now that investors are coming back to their senses and embracing the virtues of a truly balanced portfolio, this book should be an essential part of their investing library. Middleton does a good job not only of showing us what makes Bill Gross tick, but more importantly showing us what makes his bond investing strategies work so well.

Although the subject of the book has very little "sexappeal," it is very informative for those who have alwayswondered why the media pays close attention to the bond market andU.S. Treasuries, and well as its significance. Included in the book is a very well-written section on asset-backed securities, another burgeoning market. Overall, great book for its intended target audience, but don't waste your time with this if you're an aspiring quant-jock / trader. From my recollection, I can only recall about 2 passages which allude to some sort of calculation. Try another book if you wish to have a more rigorous treatment of bond analysis and valuation.

2000 has been the year to be in bonds. Bonds have provided much better returns than the stock market. This is the best book (out of four that I bought and read) on bonds that I have found. It is clear, easy to understand, and has everything you need to know to get started. The section on Treasury bond ladders is especially helpful.

You should read this one even if you ultimately decide that bonds aren't for you. Investment curiosities like bonds and stock moving in opposite directions, how inflation is addressed in the bond market, how to purchase treasuries without a commission, what it may mean for the economy when long term bonds are returning a lower yield than short term securities, and the power of compound interest are just a few of the topics discussed in enough depth that you will probably enjoy a whole lot better understanding of the financial markets than ever before.

This is the benchmark book on bonds and fixed income, it is very comprehensive and very reader-friendly. What I like about it is it covers everything. If I did not have this one book I would need 5 or 6 others instead. It covers bonds,pricing, duration, risk management, swaps, futurers, options, yield curve modelling, fund management, charting, and a whole lot more.As one endorsment says on the back: an encylopedia on bonds written like a thriller! Very good buy.

Anyone with an interest in debt capital markets will still be referring to this book many years after purchasing it.

This is an enclopaedic reference work on bonds and money markets, but written like a thriller. Oustanding work, great value and highly recommended to banker or student.

This book has a somewhat too academic feel. Meant more as a history book than a treatise on HY bonds - it does provide an excellent backdrop for future thought processes and how the current market's recent tightening fits with empirical analysis.
I recommend this book for any junk trader or bond manager with manadates for HY as a must-read for added perspective BUt do not expect to be over-whelmed by insights into CDOs, CSOs, or trading strategies in the current markets.

The basic premise of this book is to long stock and delta hedge w/ out of the money warrants. This was great when the tax incentives encouraged corporations to sell bonds w/ detachable warrants rather than selling convertible bonds. In addition, valuing the warrants was tricky prior to the use of the Black-Scholes model. This strategy - delta neutral covered calls - is profitable when the market has peaked out but you can get your handed to you if you employ it in a scenario such as '99-'00. Further their reocmmendations that you short more as your warrants fall is very dangerous - shorting a lot of gamma. The warrant game played itself out and the authors made a a lot of money. This is a very interesting book written by a very profitable hedge fund manager, but I would not recommend attempting to replicate this strategy w/ LEAPS. Pricing is much tighter now so your margin of error has dramatically decreased

Agree with much of the prior review. That said, if you can find thinly traded warrants (i.e., where there is less pricing efficiency due to the low trading volume), this book presents a very workable strategy for the individual investor. In addition, the book does outline an approach for hedging the "warrant component" of convertible bonds. In my opinion, the key is to stay in the low-volume (and, therefore, more market in-efficient) securities, so that an individual investor can use one's small size as an advantage by trading where the larger funds cannot.