Site Search  

| Home | News | What Works | Columns | Sports Source |

Glossary

Face Value

The nominal dollar amount assigned to a security by the issuer. For an equity security, face value is usually a very small amount that bears no relationship to its market price, except for preferred stock, in which case face value is used to calculate di

The nominal dollar amount assigned to a security by the issuer.  For an equity security, face value is usually a very small amount that bears no relationship to its market price, except for preferred stock, in which case face value is used to calculate dividend payments.  For a debt security, face value is the amount repaid to the investor when the bond matures (usually, corporate bonds have a face value of $1000, municipal bonds $5000, and federal bonds $10,000).  In the secondary market, a bond's price fluctuates with interest rates.  If interest rates are higher than the coupon rate on a bond, the bond will be sold below face value (at a "discount").  If interest rates have fallen, the price will be sold above face value.  Also called par or par value.

Thursday, August 28, 2008
4:59 pm