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MODIFIED DURATION. The percent change in price for a 100 basis point change in yields. <br />Modified duration is the best single measure of a portfolio's or security's exposure to market <br />risk. <br />MONEY MARKET. The market in which short-term debt instruments (T-bills, discount notes, <br />commercial paper, and banker's acceptances) are issued and traded. <br />MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH SECURITIES. A securitized participation in the interest and <br />principal cash flows from a specified pool of mortgages. Principal and interest payments <br />made on the mortgages are passed through to the holder of the security. <br />MUNICIPAL SECURITIES. Securities issued by state and local agencies to finance capital and <br />operating expenses. <br />MUTUAL FUND. An entity which pools the funds of investors and invests those funds in a set <br />of securities which is specifically defined in the fund's prospectus. Mutual funds can be <br />invested in various types of domestic and/or international stocks, bonds, and money market <br />instruments, as set forth in the individual fund's prospectus. For most large, institutional <br />investors, the costs associated with investing in mutual funds are higher than the investor <br />can obtain through an individually managed portfolio. <br />NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STATISTICAL RATING ORGANIZATION (NRSRO). A credit rating <br />agency that the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States uses for <br />regulatory purposes. Credit rating agencies provide assessments of an investment's risk. <br />The issuers of investments, especially debt securities, pay credit rating agencies to provide <br />them with ratings. The three most prominent NRSROs are Fitch, S&P, and Moody's. <br />NEGOTIABLE CD. A short-term debt instrument that pays interest and is issued by a bank, <br />savings or federal association, state or federal credit union, or state -licensed branch of a <br />foreign bank. Negotiable CDs are traded in a secondary market and are payable upon order <br />to the bearer or initial depositor (investor). <br />PREMIUM. The difference between the par value of a bond and the cost of the bond, when <br />the cost is above par. <br />PREPAYMENT SPEED. A measure of how quickly principal is repaid to investors in mortgage <br />securities. <br />PREPAYMENT WINDOW. The time period over which principal repayments will be received <br />on mortgage securities at a specified prepayment speed. <br />PRIMARY DEALER. A financial institution (1) that is a trading counterparty with the Federal <br />Reserve in its execution of market operations to carry out U.S. monetary policy, and (2) that <br />participates for statistical reporting purposes in compiling data on activity in the U.S. <br />Government securities market. <br />PRUDENT PERSON (PRUDENT INVESTOR) RULE. A standard of responsibility which applies <br />to fiduciaries. In California, the rule is stated as "Investments shall be managed with the <br />care, skill, prudence and diligence, under the circumstances then prevailing, that a prudent <br />person, acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters, would use in the conduct of <br />an enterprise of like character and with like aims to accomplish similar purposes." <br />256 <br />