经济类文章精选:Ripe

时间:2006-09-13 02:11:56

(单词翻译:单击)

17 Ripe

  America's bond markets are due for scrutiny1--and competition

  CURIOUSLY2, bonds were the first products traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) back in 1792. It took the exchange 30 years to put the "stock" in its name. The exchange lost any significant stake in the bond business generations ago. Now, though, caught in a war over the cost of trading shares, the NYSE quite rightly is looking at other markets with fatter spreads. And its attention has settled on old haunts. It has begun talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over permission to trade thousands of unlisted corporate3 bonds.

  The obvious attraction of the bond market is its size: some $10 trillion-worth of corporate bonds traded in 2003, a quarter more than the trading volume on the NYSE. And yet the bond market's size and maturity4 ought to mean that there are no rich pickings left. It has been hard, though, to tell how efficient bond markets are. In contrast to equities5, information on the price of dealing6 in bonds has been scarce.

  That began to change two years ago when the National Association of Securities Dealers7 began collecting transaction prices. This month the SEC released a study, based on these data, by its own Amy Edwards and Michael Piwowar, and Lawrence Harris of the University of Southern California. For all but the largest investors8, trading bonds is many times more expensive than trading stocks. This is odd. In theory bonds should be no more expensive to trade than equities.

  Even before sales commissions, the spread between what investors receive when selling $20,000-worth of corporate bonds and what they pay when buying is about 1.4%, or about one-quarter of a year's return. Costs are still higher in the convertible-bond market. And in the municipal-bond market, the spread reaches 2%, according to a similar study published by the SEC in the summer. All told, this is at least four times as expensive as a typical retail9 equity10 trade. The prices of most corporate bonds are reported soon after trading. But for the portion of the corporate-bond market where prices are still not required to be reported, a $2 trillion segment in 2003, the study reckons investors paid an additional $1 billion in trading costs.

  When trades are reported through the NASD, according to the study, trading costs fall by 10% to 14%. And that is only a start, because the NASD system is glacially slow, reporting prices with a 30-minute delay. Meanwhile, only dealers know where the market is trading. With immediate11 disclosure, says Mr Harris, transaction costs would undoubtedly12 fall farther. The benefits, he notes, would not be just to investors but to companies, because lower sales costs would make their debt more attractive to buyers. Bond dealers have long resisted efforts to shine a light on their markets. The study indicates why. For the NYSE, opportunity knocks.

  Economist13; 10/16/2004, Vol. 373 Issue 8397, p70-70, 1/2p

  词汇注释

  bound market 债券市场

  due adj.(常与for连用)适当的;合适的;被期望的;约定、预期的

  scrutiny [5skru:tInI; (?@) 5skru:tEnI] n. 细阅;详细检查;仔细研究

  New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) 纽约证券交易所

  Securities and Exchange Commission (美国)证券交易委员会

  National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) (美国)全国证券交易商协会

  spread n.差额;进出差价

  haunt n. 常去的地方; (动物等的)栖息处; (罪犯等的)巢穴

  pickings (pl) n. 外快,临时收入

  all told 一共;总计

  market n. 证券(或商品)的交易,买卖

  shine a light on sth. v. 使某事清楚明白地显示出来

  opportunity knocks机不可失,失不再来;鸿运当头

  参考译文

  成熟

  美国的债券市场需要进行仔细研究

  奇怪的是,早在1792 年,债券就是纽约证券交易所(NYSE)交易的第一个品种。纽约证券交易所用了30 年时间才给它起了个“股票”的名字。纽约证券交易所早在几十年前就在证券交易方面损失了任何有分量的股票。不过,深陷股票交易成本之战中的纽约证券交易所目前正以相当正确的态度看待其它进出差价较大的市场。现在,它把注意力集中到了原来的老地方。它已开始与美国证券交易委员会商讨,请求它允许自己的交易所经营未上市公司债券。

  债券市场显而易见的吸引力是它的规模:价值约10 兆美元的公司债券在2003年进行了交易,这一数字比纽约证券交易所的交易额高四分之一。然而,债券市场的规模和成熟程度必须有明显的迹象表明,这个市场还有丰厚的油水可捞。然而,债券市场的效益到底有多高还很难下定论。与公司股权相比,有关债券交易价格的信息还很缺乏。

  这种情况两年前在全国证券交易商协会开始收集交易价格时就已经开始有所转变。这个月,证券交易委员会发布了由该委员会委员艾米•爱德华、迈克尔•皮涡涡与南加州大学的劳伦斯•哈里斯根据这些资料合作完成的一项研究报告。对最大投资者以外的几乎所有投资者来说,债券交易的代价比任何股票的交易要高得多。这一点很奇怪。从理论上讲,债券交易成本不应该高于股权的交易成本。

  即使在缴纳销售佣金之前,在投资者出售价值2万美元的公司债券时所得到数额与他们在购买债券时所支付的数额之间的进出差价大约是1.4%,大约是他们一年利润的四分之一。可兑换的债券市场的交易成本还要高。据证券交易委员会今年夏天发表的一份类似的调查报告,市政证券市场进出差价达到2%。把这些数字加起来,总数比典型的零售股权交易至少贵四倍。大多数公司的债券价格是在交易后不久马上就被公布。但对于还不要求报告价格的那部分公司债券市场(2003年这部分为2兆美元)而言,该项研究估计,投资者额外支付了10亿美元的交易成本。

  根据这项研究,当全国证券交易商协会(NASD)报告了交易额后,交易成本下降了10%到14%。而这仅仅是开始,因为全国证券交易商协会系统运行的速度是极度缓慢的,价格报告要滞后30分钟。在这段时间, 只有经销商才知道证券在何处交易。哈里斯先生说,如果当即披露价格,交易成本无疑还会下降。他注意到,受益的不仅仅是投资者,公司也同样受益,因为较低的交易成本会使他们的债务对买家更具吸引力。长期以来,债券经销商一直不遗余力地抵制一切试图使这一市场更加透明化的努力。这项研究报告道出了个中的奥秘。对纽约股票交易所来说就是机不可失,失不再来。

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 scrutiny ZDgz6     
n.详细检查,仔细观察
参考例句:
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
2 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
3 corporate 7olzl     
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的
参考例句:
  • This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
  • His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
4 maturity 47nzh     
n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期
参考例句:
  • These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
  • This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。
5 equities 501c457a1f918a4b41824052f5a3f5eb     
普通股,股票
参考例句:
  • These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
  • They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。
6 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
7 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
8 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
9 retail VWoxC     
v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格
参考例句:
  • In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
  • These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。
10 equity ji8zp     
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票
参考例句:
  • They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
  • To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值,墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。
11 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
12 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
13 economist AuhzVs     
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人
参考例句:
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家,自以为什么都懂。

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