Definition of Dollar duration

Dollar duration

The product of modified duration and the initial price.

Dollar bonds

Municipal revenue bonds for which quotes are given in dollar prices. Not to be confused with
"U.S. dollar" bonds, a common term of reference in the Eurobond market.

Dollar price of a bond

Percentage of face value at which a bond is quoted.

Dollar return

The return realized on a portfolio for any evaluation period, including (1) the change in market
value of the portfolio and (2) any distributions made from the portfolio during that period.

Dollar roll

Similar to the reverse repurchase agreement - a simultaneous agreement to sell a security held in a
portfolio with purchase of a similar security at a future date at an agreed-upon price.

Dollar safety margin

The dollar equivalent of the safety cushion for a portfolio in a contingent immunization
strategy.

Dollar-weighted rate of return

Also called the internal rate of return, the interest rate that will make the
present value of the cash flows from all the subperiods in the evaluation period plus the terminal market value
of the portfolio equal to the initial market value of the portfolio.

Duration

A common gauge of the price sensitivity of an asset or portfolio to a change in interest rates.

Effective duration

The duration calculated using the approximate duration formula for a bond with an
embedded option, reflecting the expected change in the cash flow caused by the option. Measures the
responsiveness of a bond's price taking into account the expected cash flows will change as interest rates
change due to the embedded option.

Eurodollar

This is an American dollar that has been deposited in a European bank or an U.S. bank branch
located in Europe. It got there as a result of payments made to overseas companies for merchandise.

Eurodollar bonds

Eurobonds denominated in U.S.dollars.

Fixed-dollar obligations

Conventional bonds for which the coupon rate is set as a fixed percentage of the par value.

Fixed-dollar security

A nonnegotiable debt security that can be redeemed at some fixed price or according to
some schedule of fixed values, e.g., bank deposits and government savings bonds.

Macaulay duration

The weighted-average term to maturity of the cash flows from the bond, where the
weights are the present value of the cash flow divided by the price.

Modified duration

The ratio of Macaulay duration to (1 + y), where y = the bond yield. Modified duration is
inversely related to the approximate percentage change in price for a given change in yield.

Mortgage duration

A modification of standard duration to account for the impact on duration of MBSs of
changes in prepayment speed resulting from changes in interest rates. Two factors are employed: one that
reflects the impact of changes in prepayment speed or price.

Negative duration

A situation in which the price of the MBS moves in the same direction as interest rates.

Soft dollars

The value of research services that brokerage houses supply to investment managers "free of
charge" in exchange for the investment manager's business/commissions.

Total dollar return

The dollar return on a nondollar investment, which includes the sum of any
dividend/interest income, capital gains or losses, and currency gains or losses on the investment.
See also: total return.

Duration

The weighted average of the time until maturity of each of the
expected cash flows of a debt security

dollar days (of inventory)

a measurement of the value of inventory for the time that inventory is held

Duration

The expected life of a fixed-income security considering its coupon
yield, interest payments, maturity, and call features. As market interest rates
rise, the duration of a financial instrument decreases. See Macaulay duration.

Macaulay duration

A widely used measure of price sensitivity to yield
changes developed by Frederick Macaulay in 1938. It is measured in years and
is a weighted average-time-to-maturity of an instrument. The Macaulay
duration of an income stream, such as a coupon bond, measures how long, on
average, the owner waits before receiving a payment. It is the weighted
average of the times payments are made, with the weights at time T equal to
the present value of the money received at time T.

Modified duration

The Macaulay duration discounted by the per-period
interest rate; i.e., divided by (1+rate/frequency).

Constant dollar accounting

A method for restating financial statements by reducing or
increasing reported revenues and expenses by changes in the consumer price index,
thereby achieving greater comparability between accounting periods.

eurodollars

dollars held on deposit in a bank outside the United States.

Constant dollars

See real dollars.

Current Dollars

A variable like GDP is measured in current dollars if each year's value is measured in prices prevailing during that year. In contrast, when measured in real or constant dollars, each year's value is measured in a base year's prices.

Eurodollars

Deposits denominated in U.S. dollars but held in banks located outside the United States, such as in Canada or France.

Dollar Cost Averaging

A way of smoothing out your investment deposits by investing regularly. Instead of making one large deposit a year into your RRSP, you make smaller regular monthly deposits. If you are buying units in a mutual fund or segregated equity fund, you would end up buying more units in the month that values were low and less units in the month that values were higher. By spreading out your purchases, you don't have to worry about buying at the right time.

Split Dollar Life Insurance

The split dollar concept is usually associated with cash value life insurance where there is a death benefit and an accumulation of cash value. The basic premise is the sharing of the costs and benefits of a life insurance policy by two or more parties. Usually one party owns and pays for the insurance protection and the other owns and pays for the cash accumulation. There is no single way to structure a split dollar arrangement. The possible structures are limited only by the imagination of the parties involved.

Duration

The time it takes for a policy or annuity to reach maturity.

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