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Articles on preferred stocks and baby bonds.

How the securities are built, how they are priced and how to hold them. Written for investors buying $25 securities on an exchange.

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3 articles · 11 min

Featured · Strategy · Sep 25, 2026

The Basics of Business Development Companies (BDCs)

BDCs, occupy a unique niche in the investment landscape. They give ordinary investors a way to participate in private credit and middle-market lending — strategies that were once the exclusive province of institutions and the ultra-wealthy.

YieldDesk · 6 min

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Strategy · Jul 20, 2026

Building an income portfolio with preferreds and baby bonds

Spreading holdings across issuers and sectors, across call dates and across security types separates a built income portfolio from a stack of high yields.

YieldDesk · 4 min

Asset class · Jul 20, 2026

Cumulative vs. non-cumulative preferred stocks

One clause in the prospectus decides whether a missed dividend must eventually be paid or is lost for good. It costs little in normal times and matters a great deal when an issuer runs into trouble.

YieldDesk · 3 min

Markets · Jul 20, 2026

Credit ratings for preferred stocks

One to three notches below the issuer's own senior debt is where rating agencies deliberately place preferred stock, and a substantial share of the exchange-traded market carries no rating at all.

YieldDesk · 3 min

Strategy · Jul 20, 2026

Understanding call provisions and call risk

Thirty days' notice is all most issuers owe before redeeming a security at par, and that option, held entirely by the other side of the transaction, shapes how every preferred and baby bond is priced.

YieldDesk · 3 min

Strategy · Jul 20, 2026

Current yield, yield to call and yield to worst

Three yield figures accompany nearly every preferred and baby bond listing, and a premium-priced security can advertise a 6.7% current yield while delivering barely 4.8% to its call date.

YieldDesk · 3 min

Asset class · Jul 20, 2026

Preferred stocks vs. common stocks vs. bonds

Five dimensions (claims on cash flow, priority on assets, participation in upside, maturity and taxation) determine where common stock, preferred stock and bonds each belong in a portfolio. The familiar "hybrid" label captures none of them.

YieldDesk · 3 min

Asset class · Jul 20, 2026

Baby bonds explained: structure, risks and rewards

At $25 par and traded on an exchange like a stock, baby bonds are genuine debt with a stated maturity and contractual interest, ranking senior to preferred stock from the very same issuers.

YieldDesk · 4 min

Asset class · Jul 20, 2026

What are preferred stocks? A beginner's guide

A $25 par value, a fixed dividend, and a claim ranking above common stock but below all debt define preferred stock, an instrument that pays like a bond and absorbs losses like equity.

YieldDesk · 4 min