Summary
of
Major
Market
Instruments,
Market
Participants,
and
Security
Characteristics
T
a
b
le
2
-
1
SECURITY
CHARACTERISTICS
Instrument
(1)
Market
(2)
Major
Participants
(3)
Riskiness
(4)
Original Maturity
(5)
Interest
Rate
on
2/5/08
a
(6)
U.S.
Treasury
bills
Money
So
ld
b
y^
U.
S.
T
re
as
ur
y^
to
fi
na
nc
e^
fe
de
ra
l^
ex
pe
nd
itu
re
s
Default-free,
close
to
riskless
91
days
to
1
year
2.23%
Ba
nk
er
s’^
ac
ce
pt
an
ce
s
M
on
ey
A^
fir
m
’s^
no
te
,^ b
ut
o
ne
g
ua
ra
nt
ee
d^
by
a
b
an
k
Lo
w
d
eg
re
e^
of
ri
sk
if
g
ua
ra
nt
ee
d^
by
a
st
ro
ng
b
an
k
Up
to
180
days
3.11%
Dealer
commercial
paper
Money
Issued
by
financially
secure
firms
to
large
investors
Low
default
risk
Up
to
270
days
3.05%
Negotiable
certificates
of
deposit
(CDs)
Money
Issued
by
major
money-center
commercial
banks
to
large
investors
Default
risk
depends
on
the
strength
of
the
issuing
bank
Up
to
1
year
3.10%
Money
market
mutual
funds
Money
In
ve
st
in
T
re
as
ur
y^
bi
lls
,^ C
Ds
,^ a
nd
c
om
m
er
cia
l^
pa
pe
r;^
he
ld
b
y^
in
di
vi
du
al
s^ a
nd
b
us
in
es
se
s
Low
degree
of
risk
No
specific
maturity
(instant
liquidity)
2.84%
Eurodollar
market
time
deposits
Money
Issued
by
banks
outside
the
United
States
D
ef
au
lt^
ris
k^ d
ep
en
ds
o
n^
th
e^
st
re
ng
th
o
f^ t
he
iss
ui
ng
b
an
k
Up
to
1
year
3.10%
Co
ns
um
er
c
re
di
t,^
in
cl
ud
in
g^
cr
ed
it^
ca
rd
d
eb
t
Money
Issued
by
banks,
credit
unions,
and
finance
companies
to
individuals
Risk
is
variable
Variable
Variable,
but
goes
up
to
20%
or
more
U.S.
Treasury
notes
and
bonds
Capital
Issued
by
U.S.
government
N
o^
de
fa
ul
t^ r
isk
,^ b
ut
p
ric
e^
w
ill
d
ec
lin
e^
if^
in
te
re
st
ra
te
s^ r
ise
;^ h
en
ce
,^ t
he
re
is
s
om
e^
ris
k
2
to
30
years
1.^9
19
%
o
n^
2 -
ye
ar
to
4.
32
7 %
o
n^
30
- y
ea
r^
bo
nd
s
Mortgages
Capital
Loans
to
individuals
and
businesses
secured
by
real
estate;
bought
by
banks
and
other
institutions
Risk
is
variable;
risk
is
high
in
the
case
of
subprime
loans
Up
to
30
years
5.^1
4 %
a
dj
us
ta
bl
e^
5 -
ye
ar
ra
te
,^5
.^6
2 %
3
0 -
ye
ar
fix
ed
ra
te
State
and
local
government
bonds
Capital
Issued
by
state
and
local
governments;
held
by
individuals
and
institutional
investors
Riskier
than
U.S.
government
securities
but
exempt
from
most
taxes
Up
to
30
years
4.63%
to
5.03%
for
A-rated,
20-
to
40-year
bonds
Corporate
bonds
Capital
Issued
by
corporations;
held
by
individuals
and
institutional
investors
Ri
sk
ie
r^ t
ha
n^
U.
S.^
go
ve
rn
m
en
t^ s
ec
ur
iti
es
b
ut
le
ss
ris
ky
th
an
p
re
fe
rre
d^
an
d^
co
m
m
on
st
oc
ks
;^
va
ry
in
g^
de
gr
ee
o
f^ r
isk
w
ith
in
b
on
ds
d
ep
en
ds
o
n^
st
re
ng
th
o
f^ is
su
er
Up
to
40
years
b
5.38%
on
AAA
bonds,
6.63%
on
BBB
bonds
Leases
Capital
Si
m
ila
r^ t
o^
de
bt
in
th
at
fir
m
s^ c
an
le
as
e^
as
se
ts
ra
th
er
th
an
b
or
ro
w
an
d^
th
en
b
uy
th
e^
as
se
ts
Risk
similar
to
corporate
bonds
Generally
3
to
20
years
Similar
to
bond
yields
Preferred
stocks
Capital
Issued
by
corporations
to
individuals
and
institutional
investors
Generally
riskier
than
corporate
bonds
but
less
risky
than
common
stock
Unlimited
5.5%
to
9%
Common
stocks
c
Capital
Issued
by
corporations
to
individuals
and
institutional
investors
Ri
sk
ie
r^ t
ha
n^
bo
nd
s^ a
nd
p
re
fe
rre
d^
st
oc
k;^
ris
k^ v
ar
ies
fro
m
co
m
pa
ny
to
co
m
pa
ny
Unlimited
NA
a The
yields
reported
are
from
the
web
site
of
The
Wall
Street
Journal
on
February
5,
2008,
http://online.wsj.com.
Money
market
rates
assume
a 3-month
maturity.
b A
few
corporations
have
issued
100-year
bonds;
however,
the
majority
have
issued
bonds
with
maturities
that
are
less
than
40
ye
ars.
c^ W
hi
le
co
m
m
on
st
oc
ks
d
o^
no
t^ p
ay
in
te
re
st
,^ t
he
y^ a
re
e
xp
ec
te
d^
to
p
ro
vi
de
a^
“re
tu
rn
”^ i
n^
th
e^
fo
rm
o
f^ d
ivi
de
nd
s^ a
nd
ca
pi
ta
l^ g
ain
s.^
As
yo
u^
w
ill^
se
e^ i
n^
Ch
ap
te
r^8
,^ h
ist
or
ica
lly
,^ s
to
ck
re
tu
rn
s^ h
av
e^
av
er
ag
ed
b
et
w
ee
n^
9 %
an
d^
12
%
a^
ye
ar
,^ b
ut
th
ey
ca
n^
be
m
uc
h^
hi
gh
er
o
r^ l
ow
er
in
a^
gi
ve
n^
ye
ar
.^ O
f^ c
ou
rse
,^ if
y
ou
p
ur
ch
as
e^ a
st
oc
k,^
yo
ur
a
ct
ua
l^ r
et
ur
n^
m
ay
b
e^ c
on
sid
er
ab
ly^
hi
gh
er
o
r^ l
ow
er
th
an
th
es
e^
hi
sto
ric
al
av
er
ag
es
.