Alternative definitions of the year’s buzzwords
Ant
1. Tiny insect that can support many times its own weight;
2. Behemoth that folds under pressure from above
Barrenjoey
The Australian investment bank formerly known as UBS
Bitcoin
Something to bet on when you’re bored of making electric cars or launching rockets
Block leave
Holiday spent in your own apartment complex
Blue bond
A whale-y big deal in sustainable finance
Bookbuilding
Process of taking orders when a deal is already covered, especially in Chinese US dollar bonds
Bookrunner
In Hong Kong, anyone who promises an order for a debt or equity offering
Coronavirus
A handy excuse for companies that were going to default anyway
Covid premium
Polite way of saying ‘we don’t want to lend to you anymore’
Distressed debt
Everything (as of end March 2020)
EV bubble
Electric vehicle maker with absurdly high enterprise value
Flight to nowhere
When Asian investors sell all their high-yield bonds at once, before buying them back a month later
GameStop
When your free brokerage blocks you from buying more shares
Hyflux
Confused procrastination ending in disaster. The company was in a state of Hyflux
Keepwell deed
Feature of a Chinese bond that leaves investors keeping them, well, forever
K-pop
The sound a Korean IPO makes when retail investors start selling
Lockdown
Excuse for selling more shares during a lock-up period
Loss-absorbing capital
Bank funding instruments that – shock horror – actually do absorb losses, even in China
Luckin
Rhymes with…
National Security Law
No comment
Oil futures
Investment capable of leaving traders with no oil and no future
Pentagon list
One-sided view of Chinese companies
QAnon
Ludicrous theory that assumes people in positions of power are competent
Quarantine hotel
Tourist tax
Red lines
Chinese building code
Source of poorly researched investment advice with ridiculous price targets. Not to be confused with sellside research on US tech stocks
Robin Hood
1. Folk hero famous for redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor;
2. Trading app used to redistribute stimulus cheques into the stock market
Secondary listing
A hedge against mutually assured destruction
Social bond
Capital markets response to social distancing
Social covered bond
Connection made at a party in a marquee
Social distancing
Reason not to talk to your boss
SoftBank
Japanese institution capable of making hard currency savings double, then halve, then double in value
SPAC
Stop Panicking And Carry on raising money
Star Board
1. The right side of a ship;
2. The right place to sell shares in China
Sustainability coordinator
The bank responsible for arranging Zoom calls and adding pictures of trees to bond docs
Sustainability-linked loan
Banking product that does what a green loan should do
Term funding facility
Australian central bank initiative to ensure bankers can still afford to send their kids to private school
TLTRO
In India, an effort to channel some of the central bank’s injections into bonds, not just stocks
Transition
1. The scientific process of transforming from one state to another, eg, from solid to liquid
2. Vague capital markets pledge to install more solar panels on the roof by 2050
Travel bubble
Airline and hotel stocks in 2019
Website used by some unscrupulous people to pump stocks, at least until they are removed from office
VOE
Virtually office-free environment
WFH
Why fly here?
Yes Bank
The bank that said ‘yes’ too much
Zoom
Video conferencing tool keeping barbers in business
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