A type of forward financial contract that creates an obligation for its investors to purchase a particular bond issue at a specified yield at some date in the future. The money from investors is held in escrow and is used to purchase interest-bearing U.S. Treasuries, which are either sold or allowed to mature, providing proceeds to be invested into the new bond issue with an interest rate that is locked in with a forward contract. Investors participate early in the new bond issue (typically municipal bond) but will temporarily receive taxable income from the Treasury held in escrow. |||The issuance of REDs allows investors and underwriters to circumvent restrictions in the tax code that don't allow for certain municipal bond issues to be pre-refunded. Pre-refunding is a common strategy for issuers of municipal debt, as minor swings in interest rates can amount to millions of dollars in saved interest.
Bonds that have their principle cash amount already held aside by the original issuer of the debt. A subset of the municipal and corporate bond classes, the funds required to pay off refunded bonds are held in escrow until the maturity date, usually by purchasing Treasury or agency paper. Also known as "prerefunded bonds". |||Refunded bonds will typically be 'AAA' rated due to the cash backing and, as such, will offer little premium to equivalent-term Treasuries. The date of refunding will usually be the first callable date of the bonds.
1. The risk that an early unscheduled repayment of principal on mortgage-backed securities(MBS) will occur when the underlying mortgages are refinanced by borrowers. All MBS buyers assume some level of prepayments in their initial yield calculations, but an increase in the level of refinancing (which usually occurs as a result of falling interest rates) means that MBSs mature faster and will have to be reinvested at lower rates. 2. For a mortgage borrower, the risk that he or she will not be able to refinance an existing mortgage at a future date under favorable terms. |||1. The prepayment estimates used to price mortgage-backed securities are made based on market conventions known as "speeds". There are two primary measures of mortgage prepayment speeds: the conditional prepayment rate and the Public Securities Association standard prepayment model. 2. Typically, refinancing risk is associated with short-term mortgage products such as hybrid ARMs and payment option ARMs. Borrowers often take on unforeseen risks when they assume that they will be able to refinance out of an existing mortgage at some planned future date - usually before a payment or interest rate reset date - to avoid an increase in their monthly payments. Interest rates might rise substantially before that date, or home price depreciation could lead to a loss of equity, which might make it hard to refinance as planned.
One of the underlying parties involved in a credit derivative contract. The reference entity bears the credit risk of the contract, and can be a corporation, government or other legal entity that issues debt of any kind. If a credit event such as a default occurs and the reference entity is unable to satisfy the conditions of the bond, the buyer of the credit default swaps receives payment from the seller. |||The reference entity is essentially the party upon which the two counterparties in the transaction are speculating. The seller of the transaction is selling protection against the default of the reference entity. The buyer of the securitized credit derivative believes that there may be a chance that the reference entity will default upon their issued debt and is therefore entering the appropriate position.
The act of discounting a short-term negotiable debt instrument for a second time. Banks may rediscount these short-term debt securities to assist the movement of a market that has a high demand for loans. When there is low liquidity in the market, banks can generate cash by rediscounting short-term securities. |||A central bank's discount facility is often called a discount window. The term comes from the days when a clerk would go to a window at the central bank to rediscount a company’s securities.
A specific type of letter of credit in which a buyer extends an unsecured loan to a seller. Red Clause Letters of Credit permit documentary credit beneficiaries to receive funds for any merchandise outlined in the letter of credit. These letters are commonly used by beneficiaries who act as purchasing agents for buyers in another country. |||The funds provided in a Red Clause Letter of Credit are known as advances. These advances are then deducted from the face amount of the credit when it is presented for payment. Red Clause Letters are usually employed to facilitate international exports and trade.
The risk that future proceeds will have to be reinvested at a lower potential interest rate. |||This term is usually heard in the context of bonds. This "reinvestment risk" is especially evident during periods of falling interest rates where the coupon payments are reinvested at less than the yield to maturity at the time of purchase.
A medium-term, subordinated, unsecured debt obligation usually issued by a multinational corporation. Retail notes can be purchased directly from the issuer at par in $1,000 increments with no accrued interest or added markups. They will usually pay a fixed interest rate for nine months or more (after that, the rate may vary). Retail notes may be callable and can be redeemed at the option of the issuer or holder. Most retail notes also feature a survivor's option. Also known as "retail bonds". |||Retail notes may qualify for tax-deferred status on their own. They are also eligible IRA investments. In addition to purchasing them from the issuer, you can also purchase them from a financial intermediary such as a broker.