Black Wednesday

Black Wednesday September 9th 1992, the day when speculators in the foreignexchange markets forced the pound to abandon the exchange rate mechanism. Blend fund A unit trust or mutual fund that holds a combination of shares, bonds and liquid money market instruments to balance its risk and returns. It also refers to a fund invested mainly in equities that favours neither growth stocks nor value stocks in its portfolio. As a result, fund managers are free to switch between the two if they see opportunities in any sector of the market. A blend fund is therefore more diversified than a specialised one whose performance may be more volatile. Block trading Trading in big blocks of shares. On the new york stock exchange any deal of more than 10,000 shares or any quantity of shares or bonds worth $200,000 or more is called a block trade. Certain stockbrokers specialise in such trades and, in the United States, are known as block houses. The number of blocks of shares traded daily is watched closely by analysts. It shows how active in the market financial institutions are compared with private investors. Blue chip A company known nationally, or internationally, for the quality B BLUE CHIP 51 01 Essential Finance 10/11/06 2:21 PM Page 51 of its products and services and for its ability to generate profit through bad times as well as good. This usually also means that it has rarely, if ever, missed a dividend payment. 集運 美國集運 日本集運 女生的形體美在很大的程度上都集中在了一雙腿上 まだ闇属性を使えるもう一人の可能性もあるが Such companies and thus their shares are often therefore also a constituent of a main stockmarket index and are seen by investors as a bellwether of sentiment in the stockmarket. Blue-sky laws Legislation passed by individual states in the United States regulating the sale of corporate securities. The laws, so called because a judge apparently once compared the value of one security to a patch of blue sky, are intended to protect investors from fraud Bond An interest-bearing instrument issued by governments, corporations and other established organisations. A bond is evidence of a debt on which the issuer usually promises to pay interest at regular intervals and to repay the amount of the original loan at a specified date in the future. So, unlike an equity holder, who is a part owner of the company, the holder of a corporate bond is a creditor. Bonds are usually sold at a discount (or premium) to their face value. The discount (or premium) reflects the difference between the interest rate on the bond’s coupon and the current market interest rate. Companies or organisations seeking to issue bonds in the international debt markets often get a better reception from investors if they have first sought a credit rating from an agency specialising in such things. This usually guarantees the issuer a more favourable interest rate. (See also bearer security and junk bond.