Treasury Securities Data Glossary

Data Definitions for Treasury Securities.


Data field	Definition	Why we share this data
Benchmark	Identifies the bond’s benchmark type/term.	So that investors can know the bond benchmark.
Coupon Rate	A coupon rate is the annual interest rate paid by the issuer to you when you hold a bond that you have purchased. These interest payments are generally made semiannually, although some bonds may pay interest more or less frequently. The coupon multiplied by the par value is the dollar amount the issuer pays annually. For instance, the issuer of a bond with a par value of $1,000 and a coupon rate of 4.5 percent ($45) would make two semiannual coupon payments of $22.50 each to each bondholder. Generally, the higher the coupon rate, the higher your return on investment but the greater the risk you incur. Coupon payments are paid until the maturity date, at which time the par value for each bond will be paid back by the issuer along with the final interest payment. If the coupon rate is zero percent, the bond is likely a zero coupon bond: Instead of the issuer paying interest payments, you buy the bond at a discount from the par value and are paid the par amount when the bond matures. 9.455%	So that investors can understand the potential bond returns. Learn more about Investing in Bonds.
Coupon Type	Coupon types can be fixed or floating rate typically paid annually or semiannually during the lifetime of the bond. In fixed-rate bonds, the coupon rate does not change during the life of the bond, whereas, in the case of floating rate bonds, the coupon rate is reset at certain times or periodically (for example, semi-annually) and the next coupon can be higher or lower than the previous one.	So that investors can understand the way payments are calculated for a bond.
CUSIP	A unique identifier used for US and Canadian registered stocks, US government and municipal bonds, exchange traded funds, and mutual funds assigned by the CUSIP committee. It is a nine-digit alphanumeric code. The issuer is identified in the first six characters, the next two positions identify the specific asset and the last digit is a check digit. Brokerage firms must have a daily license in place with Standard & Poor's CUSIP Bureau to acquire a full list of reportable bonds by CUSIP number.	It is a unique identifier for securities.
Last Sale Price	The Price figure is the all-in price for a trade, inclusive of a mark-up or markdown and is updated from 8:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time. If there is a commission on the trade, it will be entered in a separate field on the trade report, but will be disseminated as the combined price. Price data is disseminated on executed bond trades, not bond quotes. The TRACE system has no execution capability, nor can it accept quotations.	To learn more about bond prices, see Bond Basics To learn about how to buy and sell bonds, see Buying and Selling Bonds.
Last Sale Yield	Yield is a general term that relates to the return on the capital you invest in a bond and is expressed as a percentage. There are different ways to calculate yield. We share the lower of Yield to Call (retirement of the bond at a date prior to maturity) or Yield to Maturity. This type of yield is called Yield to Worst (YTW) and is generally used to provide the most conservite potential return a bond can give you. For certain variable-rate securities and defaulted bonds trading flat of accrued interest, no yield will be displayed. For certain bonds with unknown variables, yield is not required. For example, yield is not required for floating rate notes (FRNs), step-up or step-down bonds for which the steps are not known, Pay-in-Kind (PIK) bonds, perpetual bonds, or index-linked bonds.	To learn more about yield and return, see Understanding Bond Yield and Return
Last Sale Yield Direction	This field indicates the yield direction for the subsequent Yield field.	So that investors know whether the yield is positive, negative or zero
Latest Trade Date	The date of the last trade.	So that investors know how recently a bond traded.
Last Trade Time	The time of the last trade.	So that investors know the exact time of the last trade.
Maturity Date	A bond’s maturity date is the date the issuer is committed to paying you the par value of the bond, unless the bond is callable and is redeemed on an earlier date. At the maturity date, the issuer redeems each bond at the par amount. Perpetual bonds have no maturity date. Matured bonds have already reached their maturity date and may have already been redeemed by the issuer. It is also possible that the security has not yet been redeemed for several reasons. Please contact your financial professional on the status of this bond.	So that investors know when the issuer committed to paying the value of the bond.
Price Change Number	The value of the price change between the prior and most recent trade.	So that investors can research how a bond price is trending.
Price Change Percent	The percentage change of the prior and most recent trade price.	So that investors can research how a bond price is trending.
Product Subtype	Identifies the type of security reported in the trade. Applicable values are: NOTE = Notes, Bonds
Security Description	Description of the security displayed.
Symbol	Security symbol assigned by FINRA for trade reporting purposes. The FINRA proprietary symbol is offered free of charge.	So that investors and markets have a free unique identifier for fixed income securities.
TRACE Grade	TRACE Grade groups bonds into two categories: high-yield and investment grade. High-Yield bonds are rated as speculative grade by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency (i.e., Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Services or BB+ or below by Standard & Poor's Corporation). Unrated (NR/NA) debt securities by both services are also classified as non-investment grade securities. Investment Grade bonds are rated in one of its four highest generic rating categories by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency (i.e., Baa3 or better by Moody's Investors Service or BBB- or better by Standard & Poor's Corporation).	To help investors form an opinion about a bond's risk. Learn more about Investing in Bonds.