For investors, bond trading online doesn't even come close to the allure of stocks. While bonds may not be sexy as stocks or even mutual funds, most financial planners encourage investors to incorporate them into portfolios as a hedge against inflation and market downturns. And unlike stocks, pricing of bonds has been a completely closed and mysterious world. There are nothing like real-time quotes for municipal bonds. Critics of the industry, including Durrett, a former Merrill Lynch bond broker himself, accuse the world's large bond houses of quietly using the lack of information to bilk investors with large hidden fees and commissions.
Big firms mark up their inventory at an undisclosed level.
The retail customer doesn't know how much he's paying. And no one will do it in writing. The site includes tutorials and education materials meant to acquaint investors with the ins and outs of the bond market. There are also links to the website of the Bond Market Association, the trade organization of the bond industry, as well as listings of various bond sale and purchase offers from individuals, other dealers and institutions. Some more established brokerages offer online bond trading, as well.