Bond (redirected from James Bond)

bond, in finance, usually a formal certificate of indebtedness issued in writing by governments or business corporations in return for loans. It bears interest and promises to pay a certain sum of money to the holder after a definite period, usually 10 to 20 years. Security is usually pledged against a bond; unsecured bonds are regarded as a long-term obligation on the capital of the issuing body. Some bonds are convertible upon maturity into the stock of the issuing company. One method used to retire bonds is the sinking fund; in such a case the issuing body buys back some of its bonds each year and holds them itself, applying the interest to the fund. The entire bond issue, most of which the firm has already acquired, is then retired on maturity. In the case of serial bonds, part of the issue is called in and paid for in full each year. Bonds were sold by the U.S. government to finance both World Wars and are still an important money-raising device. Government bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the government issuing them, including its taxing power, and sometimes also by specifically designated security. Bonds are usually bought by those wishing conservative investment. A junk bond has a risky credit rating because it is issued by companies without an established earnings history or with a questionable credit history. Junk bonds have increasingly been used to help finance the purchase of companies, especially in leveraged buyouts.

Bibliography

See L. A. Jones, Bonds and Bond Securities (4th ed., 4 vol., 1935–50); T. R. Atkinson, Trends in Corporate Bond Quality (1967); A. Rabinowitz, Municipal Bond Finance and Administration (1969); H. D. Sherman and R. E. Schrager, Junk Bonds and Tender Offer Financing (1987); D. R. Nichols, The Personal Investor's Complete Book of Bonds (1988).

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bond

In construction, the systematic arrangement of bricks or other building units (e.g., concrete blocks, glass blocks, or clay tiles) to ensure stability. Units laid with their ends toward the face of a wall are called headers; units with their lengths parallel to the wall are called stretchers. Common types are the English bond (courses of stretchers and headers alternate), the Flemish or Dutch bond (headers and stretchers are laid alternately within each course, each header being centered over the stretcher below it), and the American bond (every fifth or sixth course consists of headers, the rest being stretchers). See also masonry.

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bond

In finance, loan contract issued by local, state, and national governments and by private corporations, specifying an obligation to return borrowed funds. The issuer promises to pay interest on the debt when due (usually semiannually) at a stipulated percentage of the face value and to redeem the face value of the bond at maturity in legal tender. Bonds usually indicate a debt of substantial size and are issued in more formal fashion than promissory notes, ordinarily under seal. Government bonds may be backed by taxes, or they may be revenue bonds, backed only by revenue from the specific project (toll roads, airports, etc.) to which they are committed. Bonds are rated based on the issuer's creditworthiness. The ratings, assigned by independent rating agencies, generally run from AAA to D; bonds with ratings from AAA to BBB are regarded as suitable for investment. See also junk bond.

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bond

In law, a formal written agreement by which a person undertakes to perform a certain act (e.g., appearing in court or fulfilling the obligations of a contract). Failure to perform the act obligates the person to pay a sum of money or to forfeit money on deposit. A bond is an incentive to fulfill an obligation; it also provides reassurance that compensation is available if the duty is not fulfilled. A surety usually is involved, and the bond makes the surety responsible for the consequences of the obligated person's behaviour. See also bail.

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bond

1. Law a written acknowledgment of an obligation to pay a sum or to perform a contract

2. See chemical bond

3. in bond Commerce deposited in a bonded warehouse

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Bond

Edward. born 1934, British dramatist: his plays, including Saved (1965), Lear (1971), Restoration (1981), and In the Company of Men (1990), are noted for their violent imagery and socialist commitment

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bond [bänd]

(chemistry)

The strong attractive force that holds together atoms in molecules and crystalline salts. Also known as chemical bond.

(civil engineering)

A piece of building material that serves to unite or bond, such as an arrangement of masonry units.

(electricity)

The connection made by bonding electrically.

(engineering)

A wire rope that fixes loads to a crane hook.

Adhesion between cement or concrete and masonry or reinforcement.

(metallurgy)

Material added to molding sand to impart bond strength.

Junction of the base metal and filler metal, or the base metal beads, in a welded joint.

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bond

1. A financial guarantee by a surety company that work will be completed as described in a contract. Also see bid bond, completion bond, contract bond, labor and material payment bond, performance bond, surety bond.

2.See roofing bond.

3. The adhesive strength that prevents delamination of the plies of a built-up roofing membrane.

4. The union of materials by their adhesive or cohesive properties.

5.See bond timber.

6. An arrangement of masonry units (headers and stretchers) laid in a pattern that provides a brick wall with strength, stability, and in some cases, beauty, depending on the pattern. For descriptions of various masonry bonds, see American bond, basket-weave bond, Chinese bond, common bond, Dutch bond, English bond, English Cross bond, English garden wall bond, Flemish bond, Flemish garden wall bond, flying bond, header bond, in-and-out bond, monk bond, raking stretcher bond, rat-trap bond, rowlock bond, running bond, silver-lock bond, stack bond, stretcher bond, Sussex bond, Yorkshire bond.

7. A low-resistance electric conductor which joins two adjacent metal parts or structures.

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Bond 

a security that conveys to its bearer the right to income computed at a fixed percentage rate. The entity issuing the bond assumes the obligation to redeem it over a prescribed period of time by paying income to the bearer of the bond, either through winnings allocated in special lottery drawings or through the reimbursement of coupons.

In the USSR, the right to issue bonds for domestic borrowing belongs solely to the state. The bond embodies a special form of obligation under civil law, one by which the state is the debtor and the citizen placing money at the disposal of the state is the creditor. The bonds currently in circulation are 3 percent lottery bonds, issued for a 20-year term in 1966. Income is paid to bondholders in the form of lottery winnings. The bonds are freely bought and sold by savings banks; their selling prices are set by the Ministry of Finance of the USSR, and they are purchased at face value. Various transactions relating to trusts, gifts, and bequests may also be carried out using bonds. Bonds may be presented for redemption throughout the period in which they are in force and during an additional grace period of 18 months. On expiration of this period, bonds that have not been presented for redemption lose their force. Bonds and cash winnings derived from them are tax exempt.

In the capitalist countries, bonds are issued both by joint-stock companies and by the state. As a form of paper security, bonds circulate freely through the capital market at a quoted price that is determined by their yield, by the general interest rate, and by overall factors of supply and demand. The state uses the capital mobilized through the sale of its bonds primarily to cover budget deficits that result from enormous nonproductive expenditures, above all expenditures on the arms race. The debt formed from the sale of bonds and the payment of interest is repaid primarily through taxes that are collected for the most part from the working people. The profits of joint-stock companies provide the source of the interest paid on their bonds.

O. I. LAVRUSHIN and A. IU. KABALKIN