I saw the Fool dismiss preferreds as "not for the individual investor" but some of them look very attractive for the bond portion of my portfolio. I see a couple of GMs that earn 8.9 and 9.4% respectively.

I'm trying to list the points I need to clarify before I buy a particular prefered.

One major item is the call price. I believe it's generally 25 and it's a good first guess when the stock is in the mid 20's.

Another is when the stock is callable.

Of course, the financial condition of the underlying firm is essential.

A few other general questions, in no particular order.

What would lead to a wide variety of returns on preferreds from a given company? PubSt (whoever they are) preferred range from 9.1% to 11.2%. Maybe some are convertibles?

The Schwab bond desk said these were equities and I could buy them on line. I've never found the ticker symbols for them, though. Do these have ticker symbols and where can I find them?

That's all the questions I can think of. I would appreciate any answers that some more experienced preferred investors can supply.

Thank you