An entity that has an obligation to pay all principal and interest payments on a debt. |||Examples of obligors are bond issuers. Also referred to as debtor.
A municipal bond used to secure a mortgage on property or other physical assets that can be liquidated. The face value of the bond is greater than the value of the property itself. |||An obligation bond creates a personal obligation on the part of the borrower to compensate the lender for costs in excess of the value of the mortgaged property or assets, such as closing costs or transaction costs.
A formal bidding process that is scheduled on a regular basis by the U.S. Treasury. Currently there are 17 authorized securities dealers (primary dealers) that are obligated to bid on each issue. All Treasury notes are originally issued in this manner. |||The amount of money bid by the highest bidder at these auctions will determine the interest rate paid on each issue. The primary dealers have the option of holding, selling or trading their issues after purchase. The demand for Treasury notes by these dealers will vary according to economic and market conditions.
The federal regulatory body that oversees the government-sponsored entities (GSEs), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It was established as an independent entity within the Department of Housing and Urban Development by the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992. The OFHEO works to ensure the capital adequacy and financial safety of the two housing GSEs. |||OFHEO's mission is to promote housing and a strong national housing finance system by ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. OFHEO's role as Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae's regulator has become increasingly more visible as the GSE's retained portfolios of mortgages have grown in size and complexity. OFHEO also sets the annual conforming loan limits.
The U.S. Treasury yield curve derived using off-the-run treasuries. Off-the-run treasuries refer to U.S. government bonds of a given maturity that are not the most recently issued. While they are not as recent as on-the-run treasuries, off-the-run treasuries can be used to construct a yield curve if there is a problem or distortion with the yield curve as represented by on-the-run treasuries. |||While the on-the-run treasury yield curve is the primary benchmark used for pricing fixed-income securities, fixed-income analytics are sometimes run by investors and traders based on the off-the-run treasury yield curve because they believe the on-the-run treasury yield curve has price distortions caused by the current market demand for the on-the-run bonds.
All Treasury bonds and notes issued before the most recently issued bond or note of a particular maturity. These are the opposite of "on-the-run treasuries". |||once a new Treasury security of any maturity is issued, the previously issued security with the same maturity becomes the off-the-run bond or note. Because off-the-run securities are less frequently traded, they typically are less expensive and carry a slightly greater yield.
A clause in a revenue-bond agreement that permits the issuance of additional revenue bonds in the future, provided that the revenue of the previous year was sufficient enough to cover the costs of the new issue. |||This type of restriction in a bond agreement mainly serves to provide flexibility for the bond issuer, allowing it to alter its financing mix. However, by stipulating that previous revenue levels must cover any new issues of bonds, bondholders are assured a measure of safety.
The U.S. Treasury yield curve derived using on-the-run treasuries. The on-the-run Treasury curve is the primary benchmark used in pricing-fixed income securities. |||While the on-the-run Treasury yield curve is typically used to price fixed-income securities, its shape is sometimes distorted by up to several basis points if an on-the-run Treasury goes "on special". A Treasury goes on special when its price is temporarily bid up, usually as the result of demand by securities dealers to use the security as a hedging vehicle.