Corporate Bond Guide
A practical, desk-level study guide for builders and interview candidates preparing for credit research, leveraged finance, and fixed-income interviews. It covers the core analytical toolkit: price/yield mechanics, duration and convexity, credit spread decomposition, ratings, capital structure and seniority, covenants, default and recovery, and relative value — with clean math and zero fluff.
How to use this guide
- Each topic in the navigation is a standalone page readable in ~10 minutes.
- Every page follows an identical, interview-tested shape: why it matters, core concepts with explicit formulas, an intuitive mental model (ASCII diagram), interview questions with detailed answer keys, and a curated watch list of verified videos where a good one exists.
- Topics are sequenced logically from price/yield fundamentals through credit mechanics to relative value and interview synthesis. You can work through them linearly or jump directly to specific interview hotspots.
- Interview badges highlight prep priority: 🎯 Frequent (core credit/FI technicals) and Occasional (specialized or situational topics).
- Nothing here requires an external service, database, or sign-up — just clean, scannable Markdown.
Roadmap
| # | Topic | Interview |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bond basics (price/yield) | 🎯 Frequent |
| 02 | Yield measures | 🎯 Frequent |
| 03 | Duration & convexity | 🎯 Frequent |
| 04 | Credit spreads | 🎯 Frequent |
| 05 | Ratings & agencies | Occasional |
| 06 | Seniority & capital structure | 🎯 Frequent |
| 07 | Indentures & covenants (lite) | 🎯 Frequent |
| 08 | Investment-grade vs. high yield | Occasional |
| 09 | Default & recovery | 🎯 Frequent |
| 10 | Relative value / spread analysis | 🎯 Frequent |
| 11 | Interest-rate risk vs. credit risk | 🎯 Frequent |
| 12 | Corporate issuance process | Occasional |
| 13 | Reading a bond teaser / term sheet | Occasional |
| 14 | Interview patterns | 🎯 Frequent |
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md. In short: keep topics concise, verify every video link yourself, and preserve the modular interview-focused structure.