$KTBA (AT&T/ BellSouth, BBB) 7% '95 in USA: 9.35% Current Yield, 9.35% Yield to Maturity

[cm2]

Why bother with T dividends when you can buy $KTBA (AT&T/ BellSouth, BBB) 7% '95 in USA: 9.35% Current Yield, 9.35% Yield to Maturity, 25% discount to par value, sole underlying *BBB* bond BellSouth 7s '95 cusip 079867AP2 is 100 bid. AT&T has previously tried to buy back entire issue, 3rd parties are trying to steal from retail https://tinyurl.com/3nt74ru4 https://tinyurl.com/ycxdac2x

$KTBA pays .875 on 6/1, 12/1

 

"Expert Market" only - no discount electronic brokers

Edited June 11, 2023 by cm2
pricing change

[Spekulatius]

The issue is - you can't buy it in most accounts (Interactive Brokers, Fidelity), which is likely the reason for mispricing:

[COBFInfinity]

Where are you buying it? Are you allowed to buy on the Expert Market?

[Spekulatius]

10 minutes ago, COBFInfinity said:

Where are you buying it? Are you allowed to buy on the Expert Market?

I think it trades in the expert market.

[Red Lion]

So could you not buy this with a bond trading desk? 

[Spekulatius]

15 minutes ago, RedLion said:

So could you not buy this with a bond trading desk? 

This is a packaged bond - it trades like a stock. Somebody is trading it - likely in Expert markets.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Spekulatius

[Red Lion]

crazy. I basically ignored this whole expert market thread some months back I think because I felt like I had no reason to figure this out, and now of course I'm intrigued. I feel like using 6% margin to buy 9.65% YTM BBB paper would be a pretty solid play. 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

Agree with @Spekulatius on this. When you're buying you have to pay the ask, however. On Schwab, it's a 6.67% yield and priced at $104.86. I'd also be 105 when it matures.

[yesman182]

Can you buy on Schwab or it is just giving a price? I can get a price on Merrill, but I cannot buy. 

[LC]

Schwab:

• 1. Your order cannot be accepted. This security KTBA is accepting closing transactions only. (DO911)
•  

[COBFInfinity]

3 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

This is a packaged bond - it trades like a stock. Somebody is trading it - likely in Expert markets.

 

Yeah, there are potentially 2 ways to buy it: You are authorized to trade in the Expert Market because you are a market maker or something like that, or a brokerage firm is allowing you to buy it through them. I used to inquire if there was some way for an individual to get access to the expert market on their own, but no one seemed to know the answer, so I let it go.

[whatstheofficerproblem]

@Parsad Any plans on making a separate section for Fixed Income? Where we can discuss bonds, debt and munis?

[Red Lion]

I know there was another thread on this, but when did the expert markets become a thing? I was buying all sorts of nanocap shitcos and weird otc securities and it was never an issue. I haven’t touched anything like this since maybe 2015 or 2016 if I had to guess, did some regulatory hurdles come up in the meantime? 

[Dinar]

37 minutes ago, RedLion said:

I know there was another thread on this, but when did the expert markets become a thing? I was buying all sorts of nanocap shitcos and weird otc securities and it was never an issue. I haven’t touched anything like this since maybe 2015 or 2016 if I had to guess, did some regulatory hurdles come up in the meantime? 

I believe in either 2020 or 2021.

[Red Lion]

1 minute ago, Dinar said:

I believe in either 2020 or 2021.

The two years we lost all our freedoms it seems.  
 

At least I have a California legal potato gun to protect my family. 

[cm2]

On 6/9/2023 at 10:42 AM, whatstheofficerproblem said:

Agree with @Spekulatius on this. When you're buying you have to pay the ask, however. On Schwab, it's a 6.67% yield and priced at $104.86. I'd also be 105 when it matures.

 

KTBA "Bonds" trade into the bid almost every day...you just need to make/advertise the best bid...topping the bid by 1/4 point has v little effect on yield.  
These traded almost as high as $30 during period of low/no rates.  Inexperienced investors can always make an unlimited number of excuses for their own failure to seize opportunities when they present themselves.

 

 

These are gold.  

Edited June 11, 2023 by cm2

[John Hjorth]

On 6/9/2023 at 11:03 PM, whatstheofficerproblem said:

@Parsad Any plans on making a separate section for Fixed Income? Where we can discuss bonds, debt and munis?

 

I personally hope that day will be a day I don't experience. And I don't consider my self suicidal.

 

This is basically a place on the internet for stockpickers to meet. 

 

All the crypto stuff allowed on here only outside the investment ideas forum may suffice, just like it is possible to talk about the weather in the big apple and it's implications, expectations to future development in inflation and rates.

 

I hope that bonds will suffer the same miserable existence as cryptocurencies here on CoBF.

 

I'm not like Mr. Munger - All I want to know is when I get laid next time.

[ValueArb]

On 6/9/2023 at 6:12 PM, RedLion said:

The two years we lost all our freedoms it seems.  
 

At least I have a California legal potato gun to protect my family. 

 

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in nano caps is the worst. - Thomas Paine*

 

* he might have said "religion" instead of "nano caps" but I think if he had an interactive brokers account he'd agree with my edit.

[ValueArb]

6 hours ago, John Hjorth said:

 

I personally hope that day will be a day I don't experience. And I don't consider my self suicidal.

 

This is basically a place on the internet for stockpickers to meet. 

 

All the crypto stuff allowed on here only outside the investment ideas forum may suffice, just like it is possible to talk about the weather in the big apple and it's implications, expectations to future development in inflation and rates.

 

I hope that bonds will suffer the same miserable existence as cryptocurencies here on CoBF.

 

I'm not like Mr. Munger - All I want to know is when I get laid next time.

 

Bonds are basically just stocks without voting rights, and even easier to value. The market is darker and spreads are wider, but that's opportunity for a value investor.

[Red Lion]

13 minutes ago, ValueArb said:

 

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in nano caps is the worst. - Thomas Paine*

 

* he might have said "religion" instead of "nano caps" but I think if he had an interactive brokers account he'd agree with my edit.

Hahaha

[cm2]

All of these fat coupons just *waiting* to be plucked 

 

(Bloomberg) -- A key measure of US corporate-bond valuations surged to the highest level in nearly three decades as investors raced to lock in still-elevated yields amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates next month.
 

The extra yield that investors receive for owning investment-grade corporate bonds instead of Treasuries shrunk to just 73 basis points Friday, the lowest since 1998, according to Bloomberg index data...

Edited August 19, 2025 by cm2

[COBFInfinity]

51 minutes ago, cm2 said:

All of these fat coupons just *waiting* to be plucked 

 

(Bloomberg) -- A key measure of US corporate-bond valuations surged to the highest level in nearly three decades as investors raced to lock in still-elevated yields amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates next month.
 

The extra yield that investors receive for owning investment-grade corporate bonds instead of Treasuries shrunk to just 73 basis points Friday, the lowest since 1998, according to Bloomberg index data...

Why do you keep pumping this year after year? Is it the only thing you own? It's still an illiquid 70-year bond, and can't even be bought at many brokers. So can't you see why not everyone wants it? Just buy it all up yourself and keep the excess profits.

[cm2]

That fact that it is ridiculously cheap is beyond argument - and is great play on falling rates.  some will be smart enough to figure out how to buy it without being spoon-fed, probably not you.

 

Do you even know the difference between maturity and duration?  

 

Feel free to keep walking...

Edited August 19, 2025 by cm2

[COBFInfinity]

1 minute ago, cm2 said:

That fact that it is ridiculously cheap is beyond argument - and is great play on falling rates.  some will be smart enough to figure out how to buy it without being spoon-fed, probably not you.

 

Do you even know the difference between maturity and duration?  

I've been buying Third Party Trust Preferreds at a discount to the underlying bonds since 2007, but yeah, I'm probably not smart enough for this one. If you don't think maturity is relevant to a security that might have no liquidity at all one day, then that's your preference. Can't you comprehend that many aren't interested?

 

And as a reminder to a comment you keep ignoring, many brokers won't let you put in a buy order. So even some people who might want to buy it can't do so. So just go ahead and buy all of them.

[cm2]

It appears you know little of Berkshire and understand even less: 

 

 "Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years." - Warren Buffett