TL,DR: Like popcorn from the boyscouts, agency bonds are lackluster products sold to support a larger enterprise Agency Bond / Boyscout PopcornIssued by national organizationsLower yield than Girlscout cookiesEatamology “Agency” refers to the government sponsored enterprises (GSE), also called government agencies, which issue bonds to raise money. Government agencies are permanent organizations within the federal government, created by the president, Congress, or the House of Representatives ...

TL,DR: Like popcorn from the boyscouts, agency bonds are lackluster products sold to support a larger enterprise Agency Bond / Boyscout PopcornIssued by national organizationsLower yield than Girlscout cookiesEatamology “Agency” refers to the government sponsored enterprises (GSE), also called government agencies, which issue bonds to raise money. Government agencies are permanent organizations within the federal government, created by the president, Congress, or the House of Representatives ...

TL,DR: Like a yam, treasury notes elicit the shrug reaction Treasury Note / Yammedium shelf lifesafe and full of nutrientsEatamology Issued by the Treasury, “Notes” are named for sheets of paper they were originally issued on during the War of 1812 and again to fund the Mexican-American war. Formally, the Treasury Note Act of 1812 together with the Sherman Silver Purchase Law cemented the term Treasury Note into history. The government used the money from the Notes to buy 4.5 million ounces o...

TL,DR: Like a yam, treasury notes elicit the shrug reaction Treasury Note / Yammedium shelf lifesafe and full of nutrientsEatamology Issued by the Treasury, “Notes” are named for sheets of paper they were originally issued on during the War of 1812 and again to fund the Mexican-American war. Formally, the Treasury Note Act of 1812 together with the Sherman Silver Purchase Law cemented the term Treasury Note into history. The government used the money from the Notes to buy 4.5 million ounces o...

TL,DR: Like a vegetable garden, bond payments involve a large upfront investment followed by a stream of rewards that exceed the initial investment Bond Lifecycle / Vegetable Gardenlarge initial investmentpredictable moments of repaymentconcludes with a large and bountiful harvestFinancials Planting a vegetable garden involves a large upfront investment which includes building the garden, buying the seeds, planting them, and installing a sprinkler system to water them. In the lifecycle of a b...

TL,DR: Like a vegetable garden, bond payments involve a large upfront investment followed by a stream of rewards that exceed the initial investment Bond Lifecycle / Vegetable Gardenlarge initial investmentpredictable moments of repaymentconcludes with a large and bountiful harvestFinancials Planting a vegetable garden involves a large upfront investment which includes building the garden, buying the seeds, planting them, and installing a sprinkler system to water them. In the lifecycle of a b...

TL,DR: Like broccoli florets, STRIPS isolate the desirable part of the product STRIPS / Broccoli Florets - partial products packaged for individual sale Eatamology “STRIPS” is an acronym for Separately Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities. Ironically named, they allow investors to strip apart the coupon payments from the principal amount of a Treasury product. Financials Popular STRIPS behave like the zero coupon bonds mentioned below, which like sale items, are sold at ...

TL,DR: Like broccoli florets, STRIPS isolate the desirable part of the product STRIPS / Broccoli Florets - partial products packaged for individual sale Eatamology “STRIPS” is an acronym for Separately Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities. Ironically named, they allow investors to strip apart the coupon payments from the principal amount of a Treasury product. Financials Popular STRIPS behave like the zero coupon bonds mentioned below, which like sale items, are sold at ...

TL,DR: Like cheese boards, options vary from basic to bold Options / Cheese Boardcome in all shapes and sizesform of insurance when other products don’t deliveroften require agingmay cause pain after consumptionexciting and high potential goodsEatamology “Options” refers to the flexibility afforded to options buyers in choosing whether or not to exercise the contract and let it expire. This is referred to as exercising the option. Financials At a dinner party, the cheese board insures guests ...

TL,DR: Like cheese boards, options vary from basic to bold Options / Cheese Boardcome in all shapes and sizesform of insurance when other products don’t deliveroften require agingmay cause pain after consumptionexciting and high potential goodsEatamology “Options” refers to the flexibility afforded to options buyers in choosing whether or not to exercise the contract and let it expire. This is referred to as exercising the option. Financials At a dinner party, the cheese board insures guests ...

TL,DR: Like a homegrown potato, tips are not subject to fluctuations in market prices TIPS / Homegrown Potatoprotected from fluctuations in market pricescosts a premium versus traditional potatoesEatamology “TIPS” stands for Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, which are issued by the U.S. Treasury and offer protection from the rising cost of products due to inflation. Inflation comes from the Latin “inflatus” which means to blow up. Financials If you own a typical fixed coupon rate bond ...

TL,DR: Like a homegrown potato, tips are not subject to fluctuations in market prices TIPS / Homegrown Potatoprotected from fluctuations in market pricescosts a premium versus traditional potatoesEatamology “TIPS” stands for Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, which are issued by the U.S. Treasury and offer protection from the rising cost of products due to inflation. Inflation comes from the Latin “inflatus” which means to blow up. Financials If you own a typical fixed coupon rate bond ...

TL,DR: Like supporting the local farm share, municipal revenue bonds are backed by the entire community Municipal GO Bond / Farm Share Squashdirectly supporting the local communityquality of product depends on the collective success of an areaEatamology “Municipals” or “Munis” are bonds issued by municipalities including state and local governments. “GO” refers to “General Obligation”, meaning the bonds are backed by the general public that will benefit from investments in the product. All th...

TL,DR: Like supporting the local farm share, municipal revenue bonds are backed by the entire community Municipal GO Bond / Farm Share Squashdirectly supporting the local communityquality of product depends on the collective success of an areaEatamology “Municipals” or “Munis” are bonds issued by municipalities including state and local governments. “GO” refers to “General Obligation”, meaning the bonds are backed by the general public that will benefit from investments in the product. All th...

TL,DR: Like supporting a local farm, municipal revenue bonds support a local project Municipal Revenue Bond / Farmstand Squashdirectly supporting a local organizationquality of product depends on the success of the projectEatamology “Municipals” or “Munis” are bonds issued by municipalities including state and local governments. When designated as a “revenue bond”, munis generate revenue from a specific project, such as tolls from a new bridge or ticket sales from a sports stadium. Like a far...

TL,DR: Like supporting a local farm, municipal revenue bonds support a local project Municipal Revenue Bond / Farmstand Squashdirectly supporting a local organizationquality of product depends on the success of the projectEatamology “Municipals” or “Munis” are bonds issued by municipalities including state and local governments. When designated as a “revenue bond”, munis generate revenue from a specific project, such as tolls from a new bridge or ticket sales from a sports stadium. Like a far...

TL,DR: Like lettuce, lacking substance Treasury Bills / Lettucelacking substanceshort lifespansafe and mildly nutritiousEatamology “T-Bills” or “Bills” for short refer to the hard copy form of these bonds, which looks very much like a dollar bill, and which was created by President Hoover at the start of the Great Depression to raise money for the government when tax income dropped dramatically. The Department of the Treasury, a division of the Executive Branch (which is controlled by POTUS),...

TL,DR: Like lettuce, lacking substance Treasury Bills / Lettucelacking substanceshort lifespansafe and mildly nutritiousEatamology “T-Bills” or “Bills” for short refer to the hard copy form of these bonds, which looks very much like a dollar bill, and which was created by President Hoover at the start of the Great Depression to raise money for the government when tax income dropped dramatically. The Department of the Treasury, a division of the Executive Branch (which is controlled by POTUS),...

Price / Price Just like a product can be cheap, average, or expensive, bonds can be discounted, par, or premium. Since par is almost always $1,000, discount is any bond sold for $1,000. Issue Frequency / Distribution Just like product can be a limited edition or supermarket staple, bonds may be issued once or issued once every few days for 50 years. Maturity / Expiration Date Like most foods, almost all bonds have a maturity date, when they must be co...

Price / Price Just like a product can be cheap, average, or expensive, bonds can be discounted, par, or premium. Since par is almost always $1,000, discount is any bond sold for $1,000. Issue Frequency / Distribution Just like product can be a limited edition or supermarket staple, bonds may be issued once or issued once every few days for 50 years. Maturity / Expiration Date Like most foods, almost all bonds have a maturity date, when they must be co...

TL,DR: Like an unripe Avocado, CD’s require patience CD / Unripe Avocadonot immediately consumablepays off to wait and punishes those who don’tnot technically a vegetable or bond but operates similarlyEatamology CD stands for “Certificate Deposit”, which refers to the action of depositing money into the bank in exchange for a record of the transaction, the certificate. Like an unripe avocado, the investor must wait for the product to ripen before reaping the benefits. Financials CD’s are esse...

TL,DR: Like an unripe Avocado, CD’s require patience CD / Unripe Avocadonot immediately consumablepays off to wait and punishes those who don’tnot technically a vegetable or bond but operates similarlyEatamology CD stands for “Certificate Deposit”, which refers to the action of depositing money into the bank in exchange for a record of the transaction, the certificate. Like an unripe avocado, the investor must wait for the product to ripen before reaping the benefits. Financials CD’s are esse...

TL,DR: Like a potato, treasury bonds are reliable and long lasting Treasury Bond / Potatolong lastingreliable during times of crisislacking excitement or nutritional valuepracticalEatamology Bonds issued by the treasury. Financials Issued by the U.S. Treasury, T Bonds mature in 10 to 30 years, making the long term investments that reward investors with higher interest rates. Interest rates on 30 year maturities have reached historic lows recently, dipping well below 2% as of publication. They...

TL,DR: Like a potato, treasury bonds are reliable and long lasting Treasury Bond / Potatolong lastingreliable during times of crisislacking excitement or nutritional valuepracticalEatamology Bonds issued by the treasury. Financials Issued by the U.S. Treasury, T Bonds mature in 10 to 30 years, making the long term investments that reward investors with higher interest rates. Interest rates on 30 year maturities have reached historic lows recently, dipping well below 2% as of publication. They...