Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• DISCOUNT
  
  When bonds or preferred stocks sell for less than their face value, they are said to be selling at a discount. Certain bonds, called original issue discount bonds, are issued at a discount but are worth par, or their full face value, at maturity. Other bonds are discounted when they are traded in the secondary market after they are issued, usually because the interest they pay is lower than the current market rate, or because the issuer's rating has been downgraded. Closed-end mutual funds can also trade at a discount to their net asset value (NAV).
  
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