Z Tranche

Key takeaways – A Z tranche (or Z-tranche) is the lowest‑ranked, accrual tranche in a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO). It receives no cash interest…

Top Line

The “top line” is a company’s total revenue or gross sales reported for a period. It sits at the very top of the income…

Unbundling

Unbundling is the corporate or product strategy of separating components that were previously offered together. For corporations, unbundling typically means carving out, spinning off,…

Weekly Chart

A weekly chart plots one data point (a candlestick, bar, or line) for each trading week. Each weekly candle summarizes the open, high, low…

Wage Earners Plan

Key takeaways – A “wage earner’s plan” is the traditional name for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a reorganization option for individuals with regular income to…

Total utility

• Total utility (TU) is the total satisfaction or “happiness” a consumer obtains from consuming a given quantity of a good or service. –…

zoning

Zoning is the system of local laws and regulations that determine how land and buildings may be used in specific areas. Municipalities divide territory…

Zero Volatility Spread (Z Spread)

Key takeaways – The zero‑volatility spread (z‑spread or static spread) is the constant yield spread that must be added to each point of the…

Zero Sum Game

A zero‑sum game is any situation in which one person’s gain is exactly balanced by another person’s loss. The total “pie” is fixed: when…

Zero Plus Tick (Zero Uptick)

Introduction A zero plus tick (also called a zero uptick) occurs when a trade executes at the same price as the immediately preceding trade,…