Can you answer Joe B’s question about Bonds?:

Besides the fact that in general, interest on municipal bonds is not taxable in the USA but it is in Canada, please answer the following questions:

1) Please explain if municipal bonds are easily available to individual investors in the USA, and what the smallest denomination or amount is (or are US municipal bonds generally only available to large institutional investors).

2) Are US municipal bonds constantly being issued, or is there a limit as to how much debt a municipality can sell before they hit a wall and can’t issue any more bonds?

3) In the US, are municipal bonds highly desired (leading to a shortage of bonds) or are they plentiful and easily attainable?

4) What is the current interest rate of US municipal bonds?

5) Municipal bonds don’t seem to be available AT ALL in Canada. Can someone explain why? Are they issued only rarely - and only to large institutional investors? Are municipalities (cities, etc) prevented (by law) from running budget deficits in Canada, hence why municipal bonds are rarely seen?

High Yield Corporate Bonds