While bonds aren't as easily traded electronically as stocks, BestVest Investments, Ltd. offers access to corporate bonds thru experienced brokers that can guide you through the bond investment process.

The market in corporate and government securities dwarfs the stock market in terms of the dollar amount of securities traded. Yet the stock market gets all the attention on the television news and in the financial press.

Because of this press coverage, many investors do not understand enough about bonds and bond markets, and many investors are too heavily weighted in stocks to have the protection of a diversified portfolio.

Corporate bonds are issued by corporations in various maturities - from short-term (maturities between 1 and 5 years), to intermediate-term (maturities between 5 and 15 years), to long-term (maturing in more than 15 years). Most corporate bonds carry a letter-coded rating to indicate their relative credit quality.

Moody's	S & P	Meaning
Aaa	AAA	Best quality, with the smallest amount of risk. Issuers are extremely stable and dependable.
Aa	AA	High quality, with a slightly higher degree of long-term risk.
A	A	High to medium quality, with many strong attributes but with some risk exposure to changing economic conditions.
Baa	BBB	Medium quality, currently adequate but with significant risk possible over the long term.
Ba	BB	Some speculative element, with moderate security but not well safeguarded for the long haul.
B	B	Able to pay now but with a significant risk of default in the future.
Caa	CCC	Poor quality with a clear danger of default.
Ca	CC	High speculative nature, often in or near default.
C	C	Lowest rated, poor prospects of payment going forward but may be current in payments.
--	D	In default.