Ameristock Funds

More Information

For more information about bonds, U.S. Treasury securities and Exchange Traded Funds, click on the links below.

• -The 1-Year Treasury is Back! by Ron Ryan
• -The 20-Year Treasury is Back! by Ron Ryan
• -Fixed Income ETFs - an Easy and Economical Way to Diversify
• -Bond Shopping Guide
• -How to Read Yield Curve Tea Leaves
• -What's Wrong with the 1-3 yr, 7-10 yr and the 20+ yr Indexes, by Ronald J. Ryan

Some Common Bond Terms:

Bonds- are debt securities, which means that corporations or the government is borrowing money from you in order to expand their businesses, or for example, build roads and infrastructure, and paying you interest in return.

Coupon- the interest rate stated on a bond when it's issued. For example, a 5% coupon bond of $1,000 will pay $50 per year. Interest is typically paid two times per year.

Duration- the average time over which a bond makes interest and principal payments. A zero-coupon bond maturing in 5 years also has a duration of 5, because that's when you'll get all of your original investment, plus your interest back. Securities which pay interest periodically will always have a duration that is less than the maturity.

Duration Matching- a portfolio strategy where the portfolio seeks to match the duration of an index or other security. The Ameristock/Ryan Treasury ETFs seek to match the maturity of the underlying Ryan Indexes.

On-the-run Treasuries- these are the most recently auctioned bonds, notes or bills of a particular maturity. These are the securities used to calculate the Ryan Indexes underlying the Ameristock/Ryan Treasury ETFs. Sometimes called OTR Treasuries.

Maturity- the payback date, or the time frame when you'll receive all of your principal back.

Treasury Securities- U.S. Treasury securities are bonds, notes and bills, which is just a different way of expressing the due dates of the bonds. Bills mature in less than one year, notes in two to ten years and bonds mature in 10 years or more.

Weighted Average Maturity- a dollar-weighted average of the maturities of a group of bonds.

Yield- the yield for investments is the annual return divided by the price of the investment. For a bond, yield is the coupon rate (annual interest) divided by the current market price of the bond.

Zero Coupon Bonds- bonds that pay all of the interest plus the principal at the maturity date.

Ameristock Funds. Your Place to Be in the Market.