Definition of Buydowns

Buydowns

Mortgages in which monthly payments consist of principal and interest, with portions of these
payments during the early period of the loan being provided by a third party to reduce the borrower's monthly
payments.

fractional interest discount

the combined discounts for lack of control and marketability. g the constant growth rate in cash flows or net income used in the ADF, Gordon model, or present value factor.

PPF (periodic perpetuity factor)

a generalization formula invented by Abrams that is the present value of regular but noncontiguous cash flows that have constant growth to perpetuity.

Accrued interest

The accumulated coupon interest earned but not yet paid to the seller of a bond by the
buyer (unless the bond is in default).

Amortizing interest rate swap

Swap in which the principal or national amount rises (falls) as interest rates
rise (decline).

Annualized holding period return

The annual rate of return that when compounded t times, would have
given the same t-period holding return as actually occurred from period 1 to period t.

Average collection period, or days' receivables

The ratio of accounts receivables to sales, or the total
amount of credit extended per dollar of daily sales (average AR/sales * 365).

Back-to-back loan

A loan in which two companies in separate countries borrow each other's currency for a
specific time period and repay the other's currency at an agreed upon maturity.

Balance of payments

A statistical compilation formulated by a sovereign nation of all economic transactions
between residents of that nation and residents of all other nations during a stipulated period of time, usually a
calendar year.

Base interest rate

Related: Benchmark interest rate.

Benchmark interest rate

Also called the base interest rate, it is the minimum interest rate investors will
demand for investing in a non-Treasury security. It is also tied to the yield to maturity offered on a
comparable-maturity Treasury security that was most recently issued ("on-the-run").

Best-interests-of-creditors test

The requirement that a claim holder voting against a plan of reorganization
must receive at least as much as he would have if the debtor were liquidated.

Borrower fallout

In the mortgage pipeline, the risk that prospective borrowers of loans committed to be
closed will elect to withdraw from the contract.

Broker loan rate

Related: Call money rate.

Builder buydown loan

A mortgage loan on newly developed property that the builder subsidizes during the
early years of the development. The builder uses cash to buy down the mortgage rate to a lower level than the
prevailing market loan rate for some period of time. The typical buydown is 3% of the interest-rate amount
for the first year, 2% for the second year, and 1% for the third year (also referred to as a 3-2-1 buydown).

Bullet loan

A bank term loan that calls for no amortization.

Capitalized interest

interest that is not immediately expensed, but rather is considered as an asset and is then
amortized through the income statement over time.

Cash flow after interest and taxes

Net income plus depreciation.

Clearing House Automated Payments System (CHAPS)

A computerized clearing system for sterling funds
that began operations in 1984. It includes 14 member banks, nearly 450 participating banks, and is one of the
clearing companies within the structure of the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).

Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS)

An international wire transfer system for high-value
payments operated by a group of major banks.

Compound interest

interest paid on previously earned interest as well as on the principal.

Compounding period

The length of the time period (for example, a quarter in the case of quarterly
compounding) that elapses before interest compounds.

Counterparty Party

on the other side of a trade or transaction.

Counterparty risk

The risk that the other party to an agreement will default. In an options contract, the risk
to the option buyer that the option writer will not buy or sell the underlying as agreed.
Country economic risk Developments in a national economy that can affect the outcome of an international
financial transaction.

Coupon payments

A bond's interest payments.

Covered interest arbitrage

A portfolio manager invests dollars in an instrument denominated in a foreign
currency and hedges his resulting foreign exchange risk by selling the proceeds of the investment forward for
dollars.

Credit period

The length of time for which the customer is granted credit.

Dealer loan

Overnight, collateralized loan made to a dealer financing his position by borrowing from a
money market bank.

Discount period

The period during which a customer can deduct the discount from the net amount of the bill
when making payment.

Discounted payback period rule

An investment decision rule in which the cash flows are discounted at an
interest rate and the payback rule is applied on these discounted cash flows.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)

A financial measure defined as revenues less cost of goods sold
and selling, general, and administrative expenses. In other words, operating and non-operating profit before
the deduction of interest and income taxes.

Effective annual interest rate

An annual measure of the time value of money that fully reflects the effects of
compounding.

Equilibrium rate of interest

The interest rate that clears the market. Also called the market-clearing interest
rate.

Equivalent loan

Given the after-tax stream associated with a lease, the maximum amount of conventional
debt that the same period-by-period after-tax debt service stream is capable of supporting.

Evaluation period

The time interval over which a money manager's performance is evaluated.

Federal Home Loan Banks

The institutions that regulate and lend to savings and loan associations. The
Federal Home loan Banks play a role analogous to that played by the Federal Reserve Banks vis-à-vis
member commercial banks.

Fixed-rate loan

A loan on which the rate paid by the borrower is fixed for the life of the loan.

Forward interest rate

interest rate fixed today on a loan to be made at some future date.

Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation)

A Congressionally chartered corporation that
purchases residential Mortgages in the secondary market from S&Ls, banks, and mortgage bankers and
securitizes these Mortgages for sale into the capital markets.

GEMs (growing-equity mortgages)

Mortgages in which annual increases in monthly payments are used to
reduce outstanding principal and to shorten the term of the loan.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP)

A technical accounting term that encompasses the
conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time.

Graduated-payment mortgages (GPMs)

A type of stepped-payment loan in which the borrower's payments
are initially lower than those on a comparable level-rate mortgage. The payments are gradually increased over
a predetermined period (usually 3,5, or 7 years) and then are fixed at a level-pay schedule which will be
higher than the level-pay amortization of a level-pay mortgage originated at the same time. The difference
between what the borrower actually pays and the amount required to fully amortize the mortgage is added to
the unpaid principal balance.

Gross interest

interest earned before taxes are deducted.

Holding period

Length of time that an individual holds a security.

Holding period return

The rate of return over a given period.

Intercompany loan

loan made by one unit of a corporation to another unit of the same corporation.

Interest

The price paid for borrowing money. It is expressed as a percentage rate over a period of time and
reflects the rate of exchange of present consumption for future consumption. Also, a share or title in property.

Interest coverage ratio

The ratio of the earnings before interest and taxes to the annual interest expense. This
ratio measures a firm's ability to pay interest.

Interest coverage test

A debt limitation that prohibits the issuance of additional long-term debt if the issuer's
interest coverage would, as a result of the issue, fall below some specified minimum.

Interest equalization tax

Tax on foreign investment by residents of the U.S. which was abolished in 1974.

Interest payments

Contractual debt payments based on the coupon rate of interest and the principal amount.

Interest on interest

interest earned on reinvestment of each interest payment on money invested.
See: compound interest.

Interest-only strip (IO)

A security based solely on the interest payments form a pool of Mortgages, Treasury
bonds, or other bonds. Once the principal on the Mortgages or bonds has been repaid, interest payments stop
and the value of the IO falls to zero.

Interest rate agreement

An agreement whereby one party, for an upfront premium, agrees to compensate the
other at specific time periods if a designated interest rate (the reference rate) is different from a predetermined
level (the strike rate).

Interest rate cap

Also called an interest rate ceiling, an interest rate agreement in which payments are made
when the reference rate exceeds the strike rate.

Interest rate ceiling

Related: interest rate cap.

Interest rate floor

An interest rate agreement in which payments are made when the reference rate falls
below the strike rate.

Interest rate on debt

The firm's cost of debt capital.

Interest rate parity theorem

interest rate differential between two countries is equal to the difference
between the forward foreign exchange rate and the spot rate.

Interest rate risk

The risk that a security's value changes due to a change in interest rates. For example, a
bond's price drops as interest rates rise. For a depository institution, also called funding risk, the risk that
spread income will suffer because of a change in interest rates.

Interest rate swap

A binding agreement between counterparties to exchange periodic interest payments on
some predetermined dollar principal, which is called the notional principal amount. For example, one party
will pay fixed and receive variable.

Interest subsidy

A firm's deduction of the interest payments on its debt from its earnings before it calculates
its tax bill under current tax law.

Interest tax shield

The reduction in income taxes that results from the tax-deductibility of interest payments.

Inventory loan

A secured short-term loan to purchase inventory. The three basic forms are a blanket
inventory lien, a trust receipt, and field warehousing financing.

Jumbo loan

loans of $1 billion or more. Or, loans that exceed the statutory size limit eligible for purchase or
securitization by the federal agencies.

Lag response of prepayments

There is typically a lag of about three months between the time the weighted
average coupon of an MBS pool has crossed the threshold for refinancing and an acceleration in prepayment
speed is observed.

Loan amortization schedule

The schedule for repaying the interest and principal on a loan.

Loan syndication

Group of banks sharing a loan. See: syndicate.

Loan value

The amount a policyholder may borrow against a whole life insurance policy at the interest rate
specified in the policy.

Monthly income preferred security (MIP)

Preferred stock issued by a subsidiary located in a tax haven.
The subsidiary relends the money to the parent.

Multicurrency loans

Give the borrower the possibility of drawing a loan in different currencies.

Multifamily loans

loans usually represented by conventional Mortgages on multi-family rental apartments.

Multiperiod immunization

A portfolio strategy in which a portfolio is created that will be capable of
satisfying more than one predetermined future liability regardless if interest rates change.

Net period

The period of time between the end of the discount period and the date payment is due.

Neutral period

In the Euromarket, a period over which Eurodollars are sold is said to be neutral if it does not
start or end on either a Friday or the day before a holiday.

Nominal interest rate

The interest rate unadjusted for inflation.

Notional principal amount

In an interest rate swap, the predetermined dollar principal on which the
exchanged interest payments are based.

Open interest

The total number of derivative contracts traded that not yet been liquidated either by an
offsetting derivative transaction or by delivery. Related: liquidation

Parallel loan

A process whereby two companies in different countries borrow each other's currency for a
specific period of time, and repay the other's currency at an agreed maturity for the purpose of reducing
foreign exchange risk. Also referred to as back-to-back loans.

Payments netting

Reducing fund transfers between affiliates to only a netted amount. Netting can be done on
a bilateral basis (between pairs of affiliates), or on a multi-lateral basis (taking all affiliates together).

Payments pattern

escribes the lagged collection pattern of receivables, for instance the probability that a
72-day-old account will still be unpaid when it is 73-days-old.

Pooling of interests

An accounting method for reporting acquisitions accomplished through the use of equity.
The combined assets of the merged entity are consolidated using book value, as opposed to the purchase
method, which uses market value. The merging entities' financial results are combined as though the two
entities have always been a single entity.

Prepayments

payments made in excess of scheduled mortgage principal repayments.

Principal

1) The total amount of money being borrowed or lent.
2) The party affected by agent decisions in a principal-agent relationship.

Principal of diversification

Highly diversified portfolios will have negligible unsystematic risk. In other
words, unsystematic risks disappear in portfolios, and only systematic risks survive.

Principal-agent relationship

A situation that can be modeled as one person, an agent, who acts on the behalf
of another person, the principal.

Principal amount

The face amount of debt; the amount borrowed or lent. Often called principal.

Principal only (PO)

A mortgage-backed security in which the holder receives only principal cash flows on
the underlying mortgage pool. The principal-only portion of a stripped MBS. For PO securities, all of the
principal distribution due from the underlying collateral pool is paid to the registered holder of the stripped
MBS based on the current face value of the underlying collateral pool.

Project loan certificate (PLC)

A primary program of Ginnie Mae for securitizing FHA-insured and coinsured
multifamily, hospital, and nursing home loans.

Project loan securities

Securities backed by a variety of FHA-insured loan types - primarily multi-family
apartment buildings, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Project loans

Usually FHA-insured and HUD-guaranteed Mortgages on multiple-family housing complexes,
nursing homes, hospitals, and other development types.

RAMs (Reverse-annuity mortgages)

Mortgages in which the bank makes a loan for an amount equal to a
percentage of the appraisal value of the home. The loan is then paid to the homeowner in the form of an
annuity.

Rate of interest

The rate, as a proportion of the principal, at which interest is computed.

Real interest rate

The rate of interest excluding the effect of inflation; that is, the rate that is earned in terms
of constant-purchasing-power dollars. interest rate expressed in terms of real goods, i.e. nominal interest rate
adjusted for inflation.

Remaining principal balance

The amount of principal dollars remaining to be paid under the mortgage as of
a given point in time.

Savings and Loan association

National- or state-chartered institution that accepts savings deposits and
invests the bulk of the funds thus received in Mortgages.

Self-liquidating loan

loan to finance current assets, The sale of the current assets provides the cash to repay
the loan.

Short interest

This is the total number of shares of a security that investors have borrowed, then sold in the
hope that the security will fall in value. An investor then buys back the shares and pockets the difference as profit.

Simple interest

interest calculated only on the initial investment. Related:compound interest.

Spot interest rate

interest rate fixed today on a loan that is made today. Related: forward interest rates.

Stated annual interest rate

The interest rate expressed as a per annum percentage, by which interest
payment is determined.

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