1 The investment firm led by Larry Fink that launched one of the largest Bitcoin ETFs.
Answer: BLACKROCK (9 letters)
◀ All past puzzles
Finance terms from the week of Monday, March 9, 2026
35 clues and answers from Monday, March 9, 2026 to Sunday, March 15, 2026, each with a plain-language definition where the term is one worth knowing. These puzzles are no longer playable; today's game is on the play page and the last seven days are in the practice archive.
Terms covered: brent, blackscholes, penny, spread, stagflation, equity, contango, frontrunning, swap.
Monday, March 9, 2026
2 The billionaire activist investor who recently pushed for major strategic changes at several large U.S. corporations.
Answer: ICAHN (5 letters)
3 The country whose sovereign wealth fund is among the largest in the world and heavily invested in global equities.
Answer: NORWAY (6 letters)
4 The massive Chinese property developer whose financial collapse shook global credit markets.
Answer: EVERGRANDE (10 letters)
5 The sprawling Chinese financial conglomerate whose network of wealth-management and trust products funded property developers such as Evergrande before its failure raised fears of systemic stress in China’s shadow-banking system.
Answer: ZHONGZHI (8 letters)
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
1 The global macro hedge fund manager who founded Bridgewater Associates and popularized the “All Weather” investment strategy.
Answer: DALIO (5 letters)
2 The Swiss banking giant that collapsed in 2023 after years of scandals and was ultimately forced into an emergency takeover by rival UBS.
Answer: CREDITSUISSE (12 letters)
3 The index tracking the performance of the 30 largest publicly traded U.S. companies.
Answer: DOWJONES (8 letters)
4 The global energy benchmark crude oil contract primarily sourced from the North Sea.
Answer: BRENT (5 letters)
The North Sea crude benchmark used to price much of the world's internationally traded oil.
5 The Chinese technology company whose semiconductor ambitions have become central to the global chip competition between China and the United States.
Answer: HUAWEI (6 letters)
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
1 The Japanese automaker whose pioneering hybrid technology made the Prius one of the most recognizable fuel-efficient vehicles globally.
Answer: TOYOTA (6 letters)
2 The investment firm founded by Ken Griffin that operates both a large hedge fund and one of the largest market makers in equities.
Answer: CITADEL (7 letters)
3 The options pricing model developed in 1973 that revolutionized derivatives markets.
Answer: BLACKSCHOLES (12 letters)
The Black-Scholes model, the standard formula for pricing European options from the underlying price, strike, time, interest rate and volatility.
4 The high-frequency trading firm founded by Jeff Yass that is one of the largest liquidity providers in global markets.
Answer: SUSQUEHANNA (11 letters)
5 The exchange in Amsterdam where many European technology companies list their shares.
Answer: EURONEXT (8 letters)
Thursday, March 12, 2026
1 The Canadian pension giant known for massive global infrastructure and renewable energy investments.
Answer: BROOKFIELD (10 letters)
2 The derivatives exchange that launched the VIX futures contract.
Answer: CBOE (4 letters)
3 The massive Chinese e-commerce platform founded by Jack Ma that transformed retail in China.
Answer: ALIBABA (7 letters)
4 The global shipping company headquartered in Denmark that dominates container logistics.
Answer: MAERSK (6 letters)
5 The hedge fund founded by Paul Singer known for aggressive activist campaigns and sovereign debt litigation.
Answer: ELLIOTT (7 letters)
Friday, March 13, 2026
1 The major U.S. credit card company founded by Diners Club alumni.
Answer: MASTERCARD (10 letters)
2 The U.S. president whose 1933 banking reforms included the creation of the FDIC.
Answer: ROOSEVELT (9 letters)
3 The massive asset manager that runs the world’s largest bond fund.
Answer: PIMCO (5 letters)
4 The Asian financial crisis of 1997 began with the collapse of this country’s currency.
Answer: THAILAND (8 letters)
5 The U.S. president who closed the gold window in 1971, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.
Answer: NIXON (5 letters)
Saturday, March 14, 2026
1 What is the slang term for a high-risk, high-reward stock that trades for a very low price?
Answer: PENNY (5 letters)
A penny stock: a very low-priced share, usually of a small company, that carries high risk and often trades away from major exchanges.
2 Which European city is home to the world’s oldest stock exchange, established in 1602?
Answer: AMSTERDAM (9 letters)
3 What is the term for the difference between the bid price and the ask price?
Answer: SPREAD (6 letters)
The difference between two prices or rates - between a bond's yield and a government benchmark, or between the bid and ask in a quoted market.
4 What is the term for a period of both stagnant economic growth and high inflation?
Answer: STAGFLATION (11 letters)
The combination of stagnant growth, high unemployment and high inflation at the same time.
5 What is the term for the difference between a property's market value and the amount owed on its mortgage?
Answer: EQUITY (6 letters)
An ownership stake. In a company, the residual claim on assets after all liabilities are settled; on a balance sheet, assets minus liabilities.
Sunday, March 15, 2026
1 In a "Carry Trade," which specific Asian currency has historically been the most popular to borrow due to its long-term near-zero interest rates?
Answer: YEN (3 letters)
2 What is the term for a market condition where the futures price of a commodity is higher than the spot price, implying a downward-sloping forward curve?
Answer: CONTANGO (8 letters)
A futures market where contracts for later delivery trade above nearer ones, so the curve slopes upward.
3 What is the term for the illegal practice of a broker executing orders on their own account before filling orders submitted by their customers?
Answer: FRONTRUNNING (12 letters)
Trading ahead of a known incoming order to profit from the price move it will cause.
4 Which financial derivative allows two parties to exchange the interest rate payments or currencies of their respective loans?
Answer: SWAP (4 letters)
A contract to exchange one stream of payments for another - most commonly fixed interest for floating on a notional amount that is never itself exchanged.
5 Which US investment bank’s bankruptcy filing on September 15, 2008, remains the largest in history and triggered a global systemic collapse?
Answer: LEHMAN (6 letters)