Most of the bond types (and CD types) Fidelity provides access to are available as both new and secondary issues. New issues are fixed income securities that may be purchased directly from the issuer through Fidelity, such as participating in a Treasury Auction, or submitting an order in a new Municipal bond offering. Once a security has been priced and issued, it moves to trading on the secondary market, which, for bonds, is predominantly an over-the-counter market.
For new issue bonds, purchasers do not pay a markup for the transaction. Instead, the issuer pays a concession to the broker dealers that distribute the offering on their behalf. In the secondary market, owners of a bond are charged a mark-down when they sell a bond, and buyers are charged a mark-up when they purchase a bond.