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Junk bonds offer insight into the economy

Mar 6, 2024
Right now, the junk bond market suggests the economy is fairly strong.
Junk bonds come from companies that have a higher debt, giving them a less than stellar credit rating.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Twitter is issuing bonds rated below "investment grade." Here's what that means.

Dec 4, 2019
"Junk" bonds don't mean the company got an F in a test.
Twitter is offering below investment grade bonds to raise some cash. Above, a Twitter banner hangs on the New York Stock Exchange during the company's IPO in 2013.
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

Junk bond kings take center stage in a new play

Oct 5, 2017
In Ayad Akhtar's new play "Junk," he tackles the precarious financial world of the 1980s.
Playwright Ayad Akhtar (foreground) and director Doug Hughes (background) in rehearsals for Lincoln Center Theater's JUNK. The new play examines the dark side of Wall Street in the 1980s. 
Photo courtesy of T. Charles Erickson

Junk bonds start to live up to their name

Dec 14, 2015
Investors piled into high-yield bonds that could sour as interest rates rise.

How junk bonds are like junk yards

Jan 3, 2012
Marketplace's Paddy Hirsch explains why high-yield bonds are just as risky as used auto parts.
Junk cars are seen stacked at Deal Auto Wrecking July 31, 2009 in Richmond, Calif. Many investors hope their junk bonds are worth a bit more in the coming year.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What is a junk bond?

Dec 16, 2011
Junk. Not a nice word. And when it comes to bonds, not a particularly accurate word, either. Junk is something useless, right? Well, "junk" bonds are definitely not useless. In fact they're extremely useful. Sometimes. Marketplace Senior Producer Paddy Hirsch explains what a junk bond really is.
This is Paddy Hirsch, again
Bob Moon/Marketplace