Yes, bonds are boring. But boring is good in these turbulent markets. Bonds give you some of the most secure income in the world. Plus, their interest payments are not discretionary like stock dividends. These payments are legal obligations. Failure to make them can force a company into bankruptcy. Non-payment could also make the company's credit rating suffer, making it harder to raise capital.

But many investors may have been turned off of bonds due to the difficulties in buying them. At around $1,000 a piece, regular bonds can be cumbersome for individuals to invest in. Moreover, since these bonds don't trade on a major exchange, you may have a hard time finding out their exact trading prices, which can also vary from broker to broker.

The solution to this expensive, illiquid market: PET (Preferred Equity Traded) bonds.

PET bonds are one of the most overlooked investments in the income universe. They emerged over the past decade to make bonds easy to access for income investors. They're simply corporate bonds packaged into affordable $25 units. They have a ticker symbol, and you can buy and sell them like stock throughout the trading day. Most of them trade on the New York Stock Exchange where their prices are publicly quoted.

Nearly 90% of all PET bonds carry a safe, investment-grade rating, and over 15% rank in the top tiers of "AAA" or "AA." Take General Electric Capital's Public Income NotES (PINES) due 6/28/2032 (NYSE: GEA): they offer a 6.4% yield that's secured by General Electric's "AAA" credit rating. In other words, they're about as secure as a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond, but give you a yield that's over +40% higher.

Or consider Financial Security Assurance's QUarterly Interest BondS (QUIBS) due 12/15/2101 (NYSE: FSB). They are senior debt with a solid "AA" credit rating and deliver a total of $1.72 in quarterly payouts on a $11.31 bond. Despite a stellar "AA" credit quality, the bonds have been slashed in half over the past few months on fears of a potential credit rating downgrade. But more aggressive investors willing to bet on a turnaround can still lock in a fetching 15.2% yield.

A Bond by Any Other Name Is Still a Bond
PET bonds may be listed in the financial press under an acronym followed by a ticker symbol. Don't let these exotic abbreviations scare you away from a really solid asset class. They're simply brand names dreamt up by a Wall Street brokerage firm to put their stamp on a profitable sector. Two of the more common acronyms you may come across are ones that we've already mentioned: QUIBS and PINES.

QUIBS is short for QUarterly Interest BondS. As the name says, they pay interest in quarterly installments. QUIBS were structured by investment banker Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

PINES, which stands for Public Income NotES, are virtually the same product. PINES were created by brokerage Smith Barney.

High Yields -- And Secure Total Returns
The nice thing about PET bonds is that they offer you more than just high yields. They offer you secure total returns amid a rough market. As you know, price and yield move in opposite directions. As a result, there are lots of high-yield securities floating around the market these days since the major exchanges have been pummeled.

But most PET bonds have held their value through the turmoil. That's because investors know they can count on their payouts -- and in most cases a return of principal -- no matter what happens in the broader market. As safe havens in a time of turbulence, they have also held their value amid expectations of higher interest rates. As a result, their high yields should translate into solid total returns year after year.

With more than a hundred PET bonds to choose from, you can't just reach for the highest yield since high-yield and high-safety can often mix like oil and water. For that reason, editor Carla Pasternak has carefully hand-picked only the highest-yielding issues that are also proven performers for her High-Yield Investing newsletter subscribers.

To find out more about Carla's favorite PET Bonds and to learn about High-Yield Investing, please visit this link.