Bond Market Glossary
A market-focused reference for the language of fixed income. Definitions are written to explain not only what a term means, but why it matters for yields, prices, liquidity, risk and monetary policy.
Core terms to know
Start with the concepts that connect most of the bond market.
Accrued Interest
Interest earned on a bond since its last coupon payment but not yet paid to the holder.
BOND BASICSAgency Bond
A debt security issued by a government-sponsored enterprise or government-related agency rather than directly by the sovereign treasury.
BOND BASICSAmortization
The scheduled repayment of principal over the life of a debt instrument instead of one single payment at maturity.
MARKET STRUCTUREAsk Price
The lowest price at which a seller is currently willing to sell a security.
Basis Point
One hundredth of one percentage point. One basis point equals 0.01%.
YIELD CURVEBear Flattener
A yield-curve move in which yields rise while shorter maturities rise more than longer maturities.
YIELD CURVEBear Steepener
A yield-curve move in which yields rise while longer maturities rise more than shorter maturities.
BOND BASICSBenchmark Bond
A highly liquid bond used as a reference point for pricing other debt instruments with similar maturities.
MARKET STRUCTUREBid-Ask Spread
The difference between the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price a seller will accept.
BOND BASICSBond
A debt instrument in which an issuer borrows money from investors and promises specified interest and principal payments.
SOVEREIGN DEBTBond Auction
A primary-market process through which a government or other issuer sells new debt to investors.
RISK & DURATIONBond Convexity
A measure of how the sensitivity of a bond's price to yield changes itself changes as yields move.
PRODUCTSBond ETF
An exchange-traded fund that holds a portfolio of bonds or bond-related instruments.
PORTFOLIOBond Ladder
A portfolio structure that spreads bond maturities across multiple dates rather than concentrating them at one point.
MARKET STRUCTUREBond Market Liquidity
The ability to buy or sell bonds in meaningful size without causing a large price change.
BOND BASICSBond Price
The market value of a bond, usually quoted as a percentage of its face value.
CREDIT & SPREADSBond Spread
The yield difference between two bonds or between a bond and a chosen benchmark.
INFLATIONBreakeven Inflation
The difference between the yield on a nominal government bond and an inflation-linked bond of similar maturity.
YIELD CURVEBull Flattener
A yield-curve move in which yields fall while longer maturities fall more than shorter maturities.
YIELD CURVEBull Steepener
A yield-curve move in which yields fall while shorter maturities fall more than longer maturities.
Callable Bond
A bond that gives the issuer the right to repay the security before its stated maturity under specified conditions.
TRADING & STRATEGYCarry
The income or return generated from holding a position over time, excluding changes in its market price.
MARKET STRUCTURECash Bond
A bond traded as the underlying security itself rather than through a derivative such as a future or swap.
BOND BASICSClean Price
A bond price quoted without accrued interest.
MARKET PLUMBINGCollateral
An asset pledged to secure a loan, repo or other financial obligation.
MONEY MARKETSCommercial Paper
Short-term unsecured debt issued primarily by corporations to fund working-capital and liquidity needs.
CREDIT & SPREADSCorporate Bond
A debt security issued by a company rather than a sovereign or public-sector issuer.
BOND BASICSCoupon
The contractual interest payment made by a bond issuer, usually expressed as a percentage of face value.
BOND BASICSCoupon Rate
The annual coupon payment stated as a percentage of a bond's face value.
CREDIT & SPREADSCredit Default Swap
A derivative contract that transfers the credit risk of a borrower or reference entity between counterparties.
CREDIT & SPREADSCredit Risk
The risk that a borrower fails to make promised interest or principal payments in full and on time.
CREDIT & SPREADSCredit Spread
The additional yield on a credit-risky bond relative to a lower-risk benchmark of similar maturity.
RATES & YIELDSCurrent Yield
A bond's annual coupon payment divided by its current market price.
Debt Ceiling
A legal limit on the amount of debt a government is permitted to issue or have outstanding under a specific framework.
SOVEREIGN DEBTDebt Maturity Wall
A concentration of debt coming due within a relatively short period.
CREDIT & SPREADSDefault
A failure by a borrower to meet a contractual debt obligation according to its terms.
BOND BASICSDirty Price
The full cash price of a bond, equal to the clean price plus accrued interest.
BOND BASICSDiscount Bond
A bond trading below its face value.
RISK & DURATIONDuration
A measure of a bond's sensitivity to changes in interest rates and, in its Macaulay form, the weighted timing of cash flows.
RISK & DURATIONDV01
The approximate change in a bond or portfolio's value for a one-basis-point move in yield.
Floating-Rate Note
A bond whose coupon resets periodically according to a reference rate plus or minus a spread.
CENTRAL BANKSForward Guidance
Communication by a central bank intended to influence expectations about the future path of monetary policy.
RATES & YIELDSForward Rate
An interest rate implied today for borrowing or investing during a future period.
Inflation-Linked Bond
A bond whose principal, coupon or both are adjusted according to an inflation index.
RISK & DURATIONInterest-Rate Risk
The risk that a bond's market value changes because prevailing interest rates or required yields move.
CREDIT & SPREADSInvestment-Grade Bond
A bond carrying a credit rating within the higher-quality rating categories used by major rating agencies.
YIELD CURVEInverted Yield Curve
A yield curve in which shorter-maturity yields exceed longer-maturity yields for important parts of the curve.
SOVEREIGN DEBTIssuance
The creation and sale of new debt securities by an issuer.
Macaulay Duration
The weighted-average time required to receive a bond's contractual cash flows, using present values as weights.
BOND BASICSMaturity
The date on which a bond's remaining principal is contractually due to be repaid.
RISK & DURATIONModified Duration
A duration measure that estimates the percentage change in a bond's price for a small change in yield.
MONEY MARKETSMoney Market
The market for short-dated borrowing, lending and highly liquid instruments, generally with maturities of one year or less.
Par Value
The face amount of a bond that the issuer promises to repay at maturity, subject to the bond's terms.
CENTRAL BANKSPolicy Rate
An interest rate set or targeted by a central bank to influence monetary and financial conditions.
MARKET STRUCTUREPrimary Dealer
A financial institution recognized within a government-debt or central-bank market framework to transact directly in specified securities or operations.
MARKET STRUCTUREPrimary Market
The market in which newly issued securities are sold to investors for the first time.
Quantitative Easing
Large-scale asset purchases by a central bank intended to ease financial conditions when conventional policy tools are constrained or insufficient.
CENTRAL BANKSQuantitative Tightening
A reduction in a central bank's securities holdings, typically through runoff, non-reinvestment or asset sales.
Real Yield
The return on a bond after accounting for inflation, or the market yield on an inflation-protected security when used as an observable proxy.
BOND BASICSRedemption
The repayment of a bond's principal by the issuer, usually at maturity or after an allowed call.
SOVEREIGN DEBTRefinancing Risk
The risk that maturing debt must be replaced at materially worse rates or under difficult market conditions.
MARKET PLUMBINGRepo
A repurchase agreement in which one party sells securities and agrees to repurchase them later, economically functioning as secured borrowing.
MARKET PLUMBINGRepo Rate
The implied interest rate paid on cash borrowed through a repurchase agreement.
TRADING & STRATEGYRoll-Down
The price or yield effect that occurs as a bond moves toward a shorter maturity point on an unchanged yield curve.
Secondary Market
The market in which existing securities trade between investors after their original issuance.
MONEY MARKETSSOFR
The Secured Overnight Financing Rate, a broad measure of the cost of overnight borrowing collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities.
SOVEREIGN DEBTSovereign Bond
A debt security issued by a national government.
RISK & DURATIONSpread Duration
A measure of how sensitive a bond's price is to a change in its credit or option-adjusted spread.
CREDIT & SPREADSSwap Spread
The difference between a swap rate and the yield on a government bond of similar maturity.
Term Premium
The extra compensation investors require for holding longer-duration bonds instead of repeatedly investing in short-term instruments.
SOVEREIGN DEBTTreasury Bill
A short-term U.S. government security issued at maturities of one year or less.
SOVEREIGN DEBTTreasury Bond
A long-maturity marketable debt security issued by the U.S. Treasury.
SOVEREIGN DEBTTreasury Note
A U.S. Treasury security issued with an intermediate maturity, generally between two and ten years.
INFLATIONTreasury Inflation-Protected Security
A U.S. Treasury security whose principal is adjusted with changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Yield
A measure of the return implied by a bond's price and cash flows, expressed as an annualized rate under a specified convention.
YIELD CURVEYield Curve
A representation of bond yields across different maturities for the same or comparable borrowers.
CENTRAL BANKSYield Curve Control
A policy in which a central bank targets or constrains yields at selected maturities rather than focusing only on a short-term policy rate.
CREDIT & SPREADSYield Spread
The difference between two yields, usually measured in basis points.
RATES & YIELDSYield to Call
The annualized return implied if a callable bond is redeemed on a specified call date rather than held to final maturity.
RATES & YIELDSYield to Maturity
The discount rate that equates a bond's current price with the present value of its remaining contractual cash flows if held to maturity.
RATES & YIELDSYield to Worst
The lowest yield produced by the permitted redemption outcomes of a bond, assuming the issuer does not default.
Zero-Coupon Bond
A bond that makes no periodic coupon payments and is typically issued or traded below its face value.
CREDIT & SPREADSZ-Spread
The constant spread added to every point of a benchmark zero-coupon curve that makes the present value of a bond's cash flows equal its market price.
A practical fixed-income reference
The glossary covers bond pricing, yields, yield curves, duration, credit spreads, sovereign debt, central-bank policy, inflation, money markets, repo and market structure. Every major term links to a dedicated indexable page, allowing concepts to connect naturally across BondStats research and analytical tools rather than existing as isolated definitions.