Series 50: Government Securities Price Quotations

Taken from our Series 50 Online Guide

Government Securities Price Quotations

Like corporate bonds, Treasury notes and Treasury bonds are quoted in the secondary market on a price basis where one point equals one percent of par. Unlike corporate bonds, whose percentages are split into 8ths of a percent, government securities are split into units of 32nds. A price quote of 98-16 refers to a price of 98 16/32% of par value, or 98.50% of par. If the Treasury bond had a par value of $1,000, the bond would sell for $985.00.

A price of 103-08 refers to a price of 103 8/32% of par, or 103.25% of par. A Treasury bond with a par value of $1,000 would sell for $1,032.50. Some very active bonds may be quoted in 64ths of a point, which is indicated by a plus sign (+) following the quoted price. A quote of 98-13+ refers to 98 plus 13/32 plus 1/64, or 98 27/64.

A typical bond holding looks like this in the trade papers:

Maturity

Coupon

Bid

Ask

Change

Ask Yield

11/15/21

2.0

103-20

103-20+

-14

1.561

This is a 2% bond maturing on November 15, 2021. The ask price is 1/64 of a point higher than the bid, and the bond is trading at a premium; the ask price is 103 41/64, or 103.641. The “Change” column refers to the difference between the current trading day’s bid price and the bid price of the preceding trading day. It indicates a decrease in the bid price of 14/32 of a point. “Ask Yield” is the annualized percentage return to be received if the bond is purchased that day at the ask price and held until maturity.

Type of Bond

Quoted In

Example Quote

Since you're reading about Series 50: Government Securities Price Quotations, you might also be interested in:

Solomon Exam Prep Study Materials for the Series 50
Please Enable Javascript
to view this content!