Calculating The Value Of A Bond Calculating the value of your bonds at any given time is more complicated than determining the value of your stocks. To calculate what your stocks are worth, you simply multiply the price per share by the number of shares you own. If you were to sell at that moment, that is what you would get (minus any broker fees, and taxes, of course).				> Home > Glossary > Support
		With bonds, there are other considerations. Bonds can either be bought at the time of issue or on the open market. If you buy directly from the issuer at the time of issue you will pay the price marked on the bond (its face value) and your return will be the fixed interest rate, or coupon rate. At the end of the agreed term you redeem your bond at face value.
		If you buy a bond on the open market, however, you may pay more or less than face value, depending on how the bond's interest rate compares with the prevailing interest rates for new bonds. The same goes for selling a bond on the open market.
		This is one aspect of bonds that eludes many investors, because it seems to go against the intuitive grain: bond values fall when interest rates go up, and bond values increase when interest rates go down.
		The reason for the confusion is that investors generally think of rising interest rates as something that will bring in more money -- as it would if the interest rate at the bank went up, and you had a savings account there. However, with bonds, when interest rates go up existing bonds become less valuable, and less attractive.

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