The objective of this seminar is to give the participants a good understanding of bonds, of the functioning of global bond markets, and of the risk/return characteristics of bonds. We start with an overview of the World's bond markets, and we give examples of the various types of bonds that are traded in these markets. We discuss their major characteristics and we explain how they are traded in the primary (new issues) and secondary markets. Next, we explain how the cash flows of various bond types are derived and how these cash flows are valued using generic "Time Value of Money" analysis tools. We show how these tools are used to calculate future value, present value and realized compound return. We then explain how key ratios such as clean price, dirty price, yield, duration, modified duration and convexity are calculated in accordance with various conventions. We also explain how these key ratios should be interpreted and illustrated by a number of practical examples. Among other things, we show how yield expectations and duration can be combined to obtain quick estimates of the expected return and risk of bond investments. We also explain how the key ratios can be calculated at the portfolio level, using exact cash flows and approximation techniques. Next, we explain the concept of a "Yield Curve" and we show how yield curves are used in bond pricing and for break-even analysis when assessing alternative bond investments. Finally, using a "Horizon Analysis", we explain how expected return and risk can be quantified based upon explicit assumptions about reinvestment rates and horizon yields, including scenarios for non-parallel shifts in the yield curve.