Scottrade Products & Services

Fixed Income Investing

Choose from many fixed income investments to diversify your portfolio or meet your investment objectives. These include a large selection of secondary Corporates, Municipals, U.S. Treasury bonds and selected New Corporate offerings. Scottrade also offers a wide selection of many types of Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and Preferred Stocks. Purchases may be placed online via your Scottrade online trading account or through your local stock broker.

Fixed Income and Margin at Scottrade

Security Type Initial Margin Requirement Maintenance Margin Requirement
U.S. Government Bonds: t-bills, notes, bonds, and zeros 10% 10%
Agency Bonds 10% 10%
Convertible Corporate Bonds 50% 30%
Corporate Bonds 30% 25%
Municipal Bonds 40% 30%
New Issue Corporate Bonds** 100% 35% after 30 days
Certificates of Deposit Not Marginable Not Marginable

Important Notes:

  • All marginable bonds at Scottrade must have a credit ratings of investment grade or higher.
  • This means credit rankings by Moody's and S&P must be at least Baa3 / BBB- or better.
  • Short Sales are not allowed on bonds.
  • Scottrade reserves the right to change the margin requirements at anytime.
  • IRA accounts are not eligible for margin, and IRA accounts may not margin fixed income products.
  • Please read the Margin Agreement and Margin Disclosure Statement to have a complete understanding of the implications of purchasing securities and bonds on margin, including the potential to lose more than deposited or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market.

* You will lose the tax-free status of municipal bonds if you purchase the municipal bond on margin and deduct the margin loan interest on your taxes. Please consult your tax advisor if you have any questions about the tax-free status of municipal bonds. ** New Corporate Offerings (MTNs) are not marginable for the first 30 days after issue. After 30 days, if you have a margin account, you may call your local Scottrade Branch Office if you wish for the New Corporate Offering to margined in your account. Please be aware that margin status may or may not be offered at that time depending on the size of the issue.

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Brokerage Products and Services offered by Scottrade, Inc. – Member FINRA and SIPC.

Any specific securities, or types of securities, used as examples are for demonstration purposes only. No information on this web site should be considered a recommendation or solicitation to invest in, or liquidate, a particular security or type of security.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. A mutual fund's prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Prospectuses are available through our trading site or through a Scottrade branch office. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. No transaction fee (NTF) funds are subject to the terms and conditions of the NTF funds program. Scottrade is compensated by the funds participating in the NTF program through recordkeeping, shareholder, or SEC 12b-1 fees.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) carefully before investing. A prospectus contains this and other information about the ETF can be obtained from the issuer. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Margin trading involves interest charges and risks, including the potential to lose more than deposited or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market. The Margin Disclosure Statement and Agreement (PDF) is available for download, or it is available at one of our branch offices. It contains information on our lending policies, interest charges, and the risks associated with margin accounts.

Options are not appropriate for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in Scottrade's Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (also available at one of our branch offices). All option accounts require prior approval by Scottrade.

Online market and limit equity orders are just $7 for stocks over $1.

Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution.

Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other clients and are no guarantee of future performance or success.