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Issuers

Fixed income securities are issued by a wide array of organizations.  Probably the best known and most liquid of them all are the government instruments, which are often referred to as sovereign debt because they are issued by national governments.  They come in a wide array of varieties and maturities from country to country, though the most commonly traded securities tend to be the notes and bonds.  They have names like Gilts (UK), Bunds (Germany), and JGBs (Japan).  Individuals can trade in government debt via the cash market through direct purchase, or they can go through the futures market.
Corporate debt is also quite well common.  A great many companies issue debt as an alternative to issuing more stock.  Many of these issues, generally notes and bonds, are listed and traded on stock exchanges.  As such, they are readily tradable by anyone with a brokerage account.

States, counties, cities and towns also issue debt, which is commonly referred to as municipal or "muni" debt.  These issues are often less well known and less actively traded than government or corporate securities.  Unlike the other two, however, they often come with incentives for the debt holder such as the interest being federally tax-deductible.  As such, they will generally trade at lower yields.

Government agencies and quasi-government agencies also issues fixed income instruments.  Among the best known in the U.S. are the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA - Fannie Mae) and the General National Mortgage Association (GNMA - Ginnie Mae).  Like government debt, these instruments are accessible to the individual through either the cash or futures market.

The last major group of issuers is the supra-national organizations such as the World Bank.  These issues are not commonly a part of the portfolio of the individual trader, but can be transacted in the cash market.

Credit Ratings

Fixed Income securities all have ratings assigned to them by one or more credit agencies.  These ratings are an indication of the creditworthiness of the issuer.  They are essentially an indication of how likely the instrument is to be paid off by the terms of its issuance.  The higher the rating the better.  For example, the sovereign debt of most major industrial countries is of the highest rating.  So too are those of many large corporations.  An issuer need not have a top level rating for it's securities to be considered a good risk, though the yields will generally increase with lower debt ratings.

Non-investment grade debt, or junk as it is often called, is the collection of securities which carry low ratings.  Issuers with ratings in this category often have high amounts of debt outstanding, may possibly have defaulted, or otherwise are considered to be in financial stress, suggesting that the debt holder is at risk of not being paid off as per the terms.

Influences on Fixed Income Prices

Since the fixed income market is driven by interest rates (prices are inversely related to yields), those things which impact on rates directly influence prices.  The biggest driver of these rates, from a macro perspective, is monetary policy - the decisions central banks make in regards to the level of domestic interest rates.  Since the central banks directly control interest rates (at least short-term rates), they have a heavy influence over their level and direction.  Other, less direct, influencers include:

• Government fiscal policy
• General economic growth
• Employment
• Inflation
• Currency exchange rates and trade

Obviously, when considering the likes of corporate debt, considerations related to that particular issuer come in to play.  This includes things like earnings, total debt outstanding, interest cover ratios, and others.  All of this, though, is also account for in the credit rating.

Yield Curve

The yield curve is the graphic portrayal of yields over the array of maturities, from shortest to longest.  An example is shown on the following chart.

Notice that the plot above depicts two lines.  The blue line is the more standard, upwardly sloping yield curve in which the longer-maturities feature higher yields.  The spread between the long maturity issues over the short maturity ones is positive.  The pink line, shows an inverted, or negatively sloped curve.  A negatively sloped curve is often considered an indication of a pending downturn in the economy as the higher return on short term money will tend to prevent longer-term investment.

It should be noted that while it is most often the case that when one discusses yield curves that it is the government rate curve to which is being referred, it need not always be the case.  There are yield curves for corporate debt, for example.