1 Opening arguments began this week in a trial where four US states accuse the parent of Facebook and Instagram of knowing its apps could hook children and hiding the danger. Name that parent company.
Answer: META (4 letters)
◀ All past puzzles
Finance terms from the week of Monday, August 24, 2026
35 clues and answers from Monday, August 24, 2026 to Sunday, August 30, 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: debenture, slippage, sentiment, spread, liquidity, seigniorage, seasonality, arbitrage, surprise, core, breakeven, buyback, and more.
Monday, August 24, 2026
2 Shares of this Denver-based data-analytics and AI software firm, known for government and defense contracts, rocketed about 29% this week, helping drive the S&P 500 to a record close just under 7,800. Name the company.
Answer: PALANTIR (8 letters)
3 On August 18 this US exchange operator agreed to acquire LeveL Markets, one of the largest American alternative trading systems, as part of its plan to build "always-on" 24-hour markets. Name the buyer.
Answer: NASDAQ (6 letters)
4 In fixed income, this is a long-term bond backed only by the issuer's general credit and promise to pay, with no specific collateral or lien pledged against it. What is such an unsecured instrument called?
Answer: DEBENTURE (9 letters)
A debt instrument backed only by the issuer's general creditworthiness rather than by specific pledged collateral.
5 In late August, with desks half-staffed and order books thin, a routine trade can be filled at a worse price than the one quoted when it was sent. What single word describes that gap between expected and actual execution price?
Answer: SLIPPAGE (8 letters)
The difference between the price expected when an order is placed and the price at which it actually executes.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
1 Denmark's container-shipping giant raised its 2026 earnings outlook for the second time this year after preliminary second-quarter EBITDA of about $3 billion beat the $2.04 billion analysts expected, sending the shares up 7%. Name the company.
Answer: MAERSK (6 letters)
2 The University of Michigan's monthly survey of how American households view their own finances and the wider economy slumped to 51.0 in August from 55.2 in July, a warning sign for spending. What one-word gauge of consumer mood does that index measure?
Answer: SENTIMENT (9 letters)
The prevailing attitude of investors or consumers toward conditions, measured by surveys or inferred from positioning.
3 This Illinois-based maker of farm and construction machinery posted quarterly profit of $1.38 billion for the period ended August 2, up from $1.29 billion a year earlier, and lifted its full-year forecast; the stock jumped about 6%. Name the company.
Answer: DEERE (5 letters)
4 In bond markets, this is the extra yield a corporate bond offers over a government bond of similar maturity, compensating investors for default and liquidity risk; it widens when credit conditions deteriorate. What is the term?
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.
5 In late August, trading desks run half-staffed and order books thin out, so a modest order can shift prices far more than usual and volatility spikes. What single word names the market quality (being able to trade size quickly without moving the price) that dries up?
Answer: LIQUIDITY (9 letters)
How quickly an asset can be converted to cash without materially moving its price.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
1 As US federal debt hit a record $40 trillion this week, the Treasury secretary told CNBC that the department's operation to repurchase 10-, 20- and 30-year bonds could run well beyond the $4 billion first announced. Give his surname.
Answer: BESSENT (7 letters)
2 While chip stocks such as Micron and AMD slid over the week to Aug 21, the largest cryptocurrency by market value jumped about 22%, dragging Robinhood up almost 14% and Coinbase 8% higher. Name that digital asset.
Answer: BITCOIN (7 letters)
3 Wall Street expects this Santa Clara chip designer to report roughly 99% earnings growth to $2.09 a share on revenue near $92 billion when it reports after Wednesday's close, the most watched result of the quarter. Name the company.
Answer: NVIDIA (6 letters)
4 In monetary economics, this is the profit an issuing authority earns from putting money into circulation: the gap between a coin or note's face value and the cost of producing and distributing it. What is the term?
Answer: SEIGNIORAGE (11 letters)
The profit a government earns from issuing currency - the difference between a unit of money's face value and what it costs to produce.
5 Desks heading into late summer often cite the fact that August and September have historically delivered the weakest average equity returns of the year. What single word describes such recurring calendar-linked patterns in market returns?
Answer: SEASONALITY (11 letters)
A recurring pattern tied to the time of year rather than to the underlying trend.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
1 After Washington imposed 50% levies over the weekend, this G7 neighbour said on Tuesday it would hit back "dollar for dollar" with matching tariffs on American goods. Name the country.
Answer: CANADA (6 letters)
2 This haven precious metal rose about 0.75% in spot trading on Monday to roughly $4,637 an ounce, its highest level since mid-May. Name it.
Answer: GOLD (4 letters)
3 On August 20 this Stamford-based cable and broadband operator, which sells service under the Spectrum brand, completed its $34.5 billion purchase of Cox Communications. Name the acquirer.
Answer: CHARTER (7 letters)
4 In finance, this is the practice of simultaneously buying and selling the same or equivalent asset in different markets to lock in a profit from a price discrepancy without taking net risk. What is the term?
Answer: ARBITRAGE (9 letters)
Profiting from a price difference for the same asset in two markets by buying in one and selling in the other, in principle without taking risk.
5 As second-quarter reporting wraps up this month, analysts tally how far each company's reported earnings per share landed above or below the consensus estimate. What single word names that gap?
Answer: SURPRISE (8 letters)
An earnings surprise: the gap between a company's reported results and what analysts expected.
Friday, August 28, 2026
1 A $72 billion Massachusetts-based maker of stents and heart devices disclosed this week that criminals had struck its computer networks, disrupting operations and sending the shares lower. What single word names a hostile attempt to breach and disrupt a firm's systems?
Answer: CYBERATTACK (11 letters)
2 A July inflation print released on Aug. 26 showed the Fed's preferred price gauge up 0.2% on the month and 3.3% on the year once food and energy are stripped out; stocks slipped slightly. What one-word adjective labels that ex-food-and-energy version of an index?
Answer: CORE (4 letters)
Core inflation: the change in prices excluding food and energy.
3 Shares of this Mountain View, California software company, best known for TurboTax and QuickBooks, sank about 11% after management's fiscal 2027 outlook disappointed investors despite a solid quarter just reported. Name the company.
Answer: INTUIT (6 letters)
4 In corporate finance, this is the level of sales or output at which total revenue exactly equals total costs, so a business makes neither profit nor loss. What one-word term names that point?
Answer: BREAKEVEN (9 letters)
The point at which revenues exactly cover costs, so profit is zero. In bond markets, the inflation rate at which an inflation-linked bond and a nominal bond return the same.
5 With Q2 reporting wrapped up in late August, companies emerge from their restricted window and resume taking their own shares out of the market, a move that lifts earnings per share by shrinking the share count. What one-word term names this practice?
Answer: BUYBACK (7 letters)
A company repurchasing its own shares on the market, reducing the count outstanding and so raising earnings per share even if total earnings are unchanged.
Saturday, August 29, 2026
1 The new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, has floated cutting the number of scheduled policy meetings from eight a year to six. What acronym names the Federal Reserve committee that sets the target range for the federal funds rate at those meetings?
Answer: FOMC (4 letters)
The Federal Open Market Committee - the body within the US Federal Reserve that sets monetary policy.
2 Grain markets rallied in the last week of August, with corn up about 6% and soybeans 3%. Leading the move with a gain of roughly 10% was the cereal crop milled into flour for bread. Name that crop.
Answer: WHEAT (5 letters)
3 On August 27 this New York-listed private equity and credit giant, known for its Athene annuities arm, bought into KKR-backed private-jet terminal operator Atlantic Aviation at a $10 billion valuation. Name the buyer.
Answer: APOLLO (6 letters)
4 In lending, this is a clause in a credit agreement obliging the borrower to keep certain financial ratios or to avoid specified actions such as extra borrowing; breaching it can trigger a default even if payments are current. What is the term?
Answer: COVENANT (8 letters)
A condition in a loan agreement requiring the borrower to maintain certain financial ratios or refrain from certain actions. Breaching one can trigger default.
5 Late August brings half-staffed desks and thin order books, so modest trades can swing prices sharply in both directions. What single word names the statistical measure of how much and how fast an asset's price fluctuates?
Answer: VOLATILITY (10 letters)
The degree to which a price fluctuates over time, usually measured as the standard deviation of returns and quoted annualised.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
1 US stocks slipped on Friday, Aug 28 after the Fed chair's Jackson Hole remarks pushed traders to price a rate increase next month instead of a cut. What one-word adjective describes a central-bank stance that leans toward tighter money and higher rates?
Answer: HAWKISH (7 letters)
Describing a policymaker or stance that prioritises controlling inflation, and so favours higher interest rates or tighter policy.
2 The Conference Board's monthly gauge of how Americans view business and job conditions eased to 89.4 in August, below the 90.2 consensus. One word completes the index's name: Consumer ___ Index.
Answer: CONFIDENCE (10 letters)
Consumer confidence: a survey-based measure of how households view business conditions, jobs and their own finances.
3 On August 26 this Calgary-based pipeline and energy infrastructure company agreed to buy Salt Creek Midstream's crude oil gathering business for about $600 million, extending its Permian footprint. Name the acquirer.
Answer: ENBRIDGE (8 letters)
4 In accounting, this is the systematic spreading of the cost of a tangible fixed asset such as machinery, a building or a vehicle over its useful life, charged as an expense each period to reflect wear and obsolescence. What is the term?
Answer: DEPRECIATION (12 letters)
The accounting allocation of a tangible asset's cost across its useful life. Separately, a fall in a currency's value against others.
5 As second-quarter reporting wraps up in August, traders talk about the unofficial profit expectation circulating on desks, which can sit above the published analyst consensus, so a company can beat consensus and still miss this number. What is it called?
Answer: WHISPER (7 letters)
An informal expectation for a company's results circulating among traders, distinct from the published analyst consensus.