A provision on a bond or other fixed-income instrument that allows the original issuer to repurchase and retire the bonds. If there is a call provision in place, it will typically come with a time window under which the bond can be called, and a specific price to be paid to bondholders and any accrued interest are defined. Callable bonds will pay a higher yield than comparable non-callable bonds. |||A bond call will almost always favor the issuer over the investor; if it doesn't, the issuer will simply continue to make the current interest payments and keep the debt active. Typically, call options on bonds will be exercised by the issuer when interest rates have fallen. The reason for this is that the issuer can simply issue new debt at a lower rate of interest, effectively reducing the overall cost of their borrowing, instead of continuing to pay the higher effective rate on the borrowings.
A protective provision of a callable security prohibiting the issuer from calling back the security for a period early in its life. |||The call protection is advantageous to investors because it prevents the issuer from forcing redemption early on in the life of a security. This means that investors will have a minimum number or years, regardless of how poor the market becomes, to reap the benefits of the security. The period for which the bond is protected is known as the "deferment period" or the "cushion".
A savings certificate entitling the bearer to receive interest. A CD bears a maturity date, a specified fixed interest rate and can be issued in any denomination. CDs are generally issued by commercial banks and are insured by the FDIC. The term of a CD generally ranges from one month to five years. |||A certificate of deposit is a promissory note issued by a bank. It is a time deposit that restricts holders from withdrawing funds on demand. Although it is still possible to withdraw the money, this action will often incur a penalty. For example, let's say that you purchase a $10,000 CD with an interest rate of 5% compounded annually and a term of one year. At year's end, the CD will have grown to $10,500 ($10,000 * 1.05).CDs of less than $100,000 are called "small CDs"; CDs for more than $100,000 are called "large CDs" or "jumbo CDs". Almost all large CDs, as well as some small CDs, are negotiable.
A strategy in which an investor divides the amount of money to be invested into equal amounts to certificates of deposit (CDs) with different maturity dates. This strategy decreases both interest rate and re-investment risks. |||A CD ladder strategy is followed by investors who value the safety of their principal and income. This strategy also provides the investor with steady cash flow as the CDs will mature at different times (six months, one year, two years, etc.).
A call provision in municipal bonds that allows for the early redemption of the instrument if a catastrophic event occurs and severely damages the project financed by the issue. Possible catastrophes will be listed in the bond's indenture and are often callable at par. |||Catastrophe calls provide municipalities insurance against natural disasters. For example, let's say an earthquake destroyed a newly constructed bridge. Since the construction cost was financed by a municipal bond issue (with a catastrophe call option) and the bridge's destruction does not allow it to generate the revenue expected to repay the debt, the bonds may be called at par immediately.
A cat spread is a type of derivative traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) that takes the form of an option on a catastrophe futures contract. In other words, a cat spread is basically a call option spread bought by insurance companies on catastrophe futures contracts. Purchasing a cat spread involves buying or selling a call option whose underlying asset is a catastrophe contract, while simultaneously selling or buying the same number of call options at a higher strike price. A cat spread is used by insurance companies to hedge risk coverage of catastrophic events. |||Let’s say an insurance company buys a cat spread on a catastrophe futures contract with an expectation that the loss ratio on catastrophic events will fall within the range of 20% to 40%. If losses fall within that range, the insurance company would exercise the option and sell the contract, enabling the company to make a profit which will be used to offset the losses. However, if the loss ratio does not fall within the 20% to 40% range, the option will expire at zero and the only thing the company has to lose is the original investment.
A short-term security sold by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The maturity on a CMB can range from a few days to six months. The money raised through these issues is used by the Treasury to meet any temporary shortfalls. |||The cash management bill is the most flexible instrument of the U.S. Treasury because it can be issued when needed, allowing the Treasury to have lower cash balances and issue fewer long-term notes. CMBs tend to pay higher yields than bills with fixed maturities, but their shorter maturities lead to lower overall interest expense.
Short-term obligations, usually ninety days or less, that provide a return in the form of interest payments. |||Examples are money-market funds and short-term CDs.