The term 'above par' refers to a situation where a security, typically a bond, is trading at a price above its face value or par value. This can indicate a strong demand for the security and may reflect favorable market conditions or high credit quality of the issuer.
A Collateralized Bond Obligation (CBO) is an investment-grade bond backed by a pool of variously rated bonds, including junk bonds. CBOs represent different degrees of credit quality rather than different maturities.
Investment-Grade describes bonds suitable for purchase by prudent investors. Standard & Poor's (S&P) designates the bonds in its four top categories (AAA down to BBB) as investment-grade.
Yield spread refers to the difference in yields between various issues of securities, often related to issues with different credit qualities. It is a key metric in the bond market, comparing securities that don't share identical maturity and quality.
