Mungofitch made a rec a while back about the WFC/PRL and I thought I'd buy a piece and see what it was. So, that's where my question comes from. Would Schwab bond desk explain that to me?

WFC/PRL isn't a bond. It's a preferred stock. So I don't think the bond desk will say much about it other than what I just said. Quantumonline.com is a good place to get info about preferreds.

But I have to say that putting your money into things you don't really know anything about (other than that some guy on the internet, even a very smart guy, recommended it) can blow up in your face. I admire your effort to learn. But the way you are doing it carries avoidable, unrewarded risk.

There are downsides to preferreds, just as there are to all investments. So when you say "what can be the harm?" it suggests you are unaware of them. I'm not saying that preferreds never make sense. I'm saying that you may want to find out what the risks are before plunking your money down. (Many preferreds trade thinly, so the costs of getting in and out can be appreciable. Their prices generally fluctuate inversely with changes in prevailing interest rates and also as the call date (if it's callable, which most are) approaches.)