In finance and investing, discount refers to a situation when a bond is trading for lower than its par or face value. The discount equals the difference between the price paid for a security and the security's par value. Bonds are usually fixed-income, debt securities used when a business is raising funds for a project or expansion. Bonds may trade at a discount due to problems with the underlying company or the product offering a lower interest rate or terms than other, comparable bonds.
For example, if a bond with a par value of $1,000 is currently selling for $990, it is selling at a discount of 1% or $10 ($1000/$990 = 1).
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