Retail Agency Bond Broker?

Discussion in 'Fixed Income' started by kmiklas, May 31, 2023.

  1. kmiklas

    kmiklas

    Brethren:

    Where can I purchase retail agency bonds?

    - IB: Just had a talk with them, and they do not offer Agency bonds.
    - Schwab: Nope.. their bond offering is in the toilet. Can't even get a Treasury bond.

    I doubt that the discount brokers (eTrade, Ameritrade, et alia) would offer them.

    Anyone know of a retail broker that offers Agency bonds?

    Thanks, Keith :^)
    Non-professional - not licensed - not qualified to give advice - opinion only
     
  2. mervyn

    mervyn

    Fidelity, currently has 1466 cusip
     
    kmiklas likes this.
  3. ZBZB

    ZBZB

    Is there an agency bond etf?
     
  4. mervyn

    mervyn

    Agency bonds are not interested unless you specialize in this field.

    Repack of home mortgages, farm loans, small business loans, etc. there are special groups of folks will hold these, like American public pensions funds, not even IRA managers are taking any interest.
     
  5. ETJ

    ETJ

    GNMA business is still pretty robust - especially for older investors.
     
  6. BMK

    BMK

    What are you talking about? LOL

    I have an account at Schwab, and there are plenty of agency bonds available.

    Either you are not using the right search criteria, or you are looking for something really esoteric.

    Can you give an example of a particular agency and the maturity you are looking for?
     
  7. BMK

    BMK

    I've attached a search of agency bonds on Schwab.

    Many require a minimum order of $10K face value, or even more. But some are offered in smaller lots.
     
  8. kmiklas

    kmiklas


    I actually called them and talked it over. I was told that there is no bond scanner in StreetSmart.

    Where did you do this agency bond search?
     
  9. BMK

    BMK

    On their basic platform at schwab.com

    You click on <Trade>, and then click <Bonds>. On the page it takes you to, you then have to click on another link that says <Find Bonds & Fixed Income>.

    Then you can do a search, and there is a drop down with various types of bonds, e.g., corporates, treasuries, and agencies.

    It's a bit clunky. I don't see a way to limit the search to a particular agency. But there are lots of other variables you can control, such as maturity and yield. And once you get results, you can click on the column header to order the results alphabetically, which will organize them by the name of the agency.
     
  10. kmiklas

    kmiklas

    Thanks
    Thanks! The help desk at Schwab said nothing about this… perhaps because I was asking about StreetSmart Edge.
     
    #10     Jun 3, 2023