Many researchers have dealt with and contributed to the literature on bond risk and risk premium. This paper analyzes components of bond risk premium using market valuation theory. We introduce a concept of “yield risk.” The “yield risk” of a bond is shown to be the sum of systematic risk and default risk. We successfully bridge the theoretical gap between what is commonly known (and contained in most investment textbooks) that yield to maturity of a bond may be an upward biased measure of cost of debt, and the theory of valuing risky debt in capital market equilibrium.