Finance terms from the week of Monday, September 7, 2026
35 clues and answers from Monday, September 7, 2026 to Sunday, September 13, 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.
1 Bets on a September Fed rate rise fell from about 63% to 50% on Sept. 3 after this Fed governor, long seen as a policy dove, said he would be "inclined to support" holding the target range steady this month. Give his surname.
Answer: WALLER(6 letters)
2 Flash data released last week showed consumer prices across the 20-country single-currency bloc rose 3.3% in August, up from 2.9% in July, with energy costs jumping 14.3% and all but sealing an ECB rate rise this month. What one word names that bloc?
Answer: EUROZONE(8 letters)
3 Shares of this Bozeman, Montana-headquartered cloud data-warehousing and AI analytics software company popped more than 16% last week after second-quarter revenue and earnings beat estimates and management issued strong guidance. Name the company.
Answer: SNOWFLAKE(9 letters)
4 In a transaction, this is cash or documents placed with a neutral third party and released only when agreed conditions are met, often used to hold back part of an acquisition price against post-closing claims. What is the term?
Answer: ESCROW(6 letters)
Money or documents held by a neutral third party until the conditions of a deal are met, at which point the holder releases them to the right party.
5 September 15 is the extended US federal filing deadline for S-corporations and for this other pass-through business form, which files Form 1065 and hands each owner a Schedule K-1 reporting their share of income. What is it?
Answer: PARTNERSHIP(11 letters)
A pass-through business owned by two or more people or entities. It files Form 1065 and issues each owner a Schedule K-1.
1 Shares of this Novato, California rare-disease biotech plunged more than 46% last week after its Phase 3 trial of a treatment for Angelman syndrome failed to hit its primary endpoint. Name the company.
Answer: ULTRAGENYX(10 letters)
2 With wars in Ukraine and the Gulf knocking out refining capacity, the price of this middle distillate fuel (the one that moves trucks, trains and tractors) hit a record high on Friday. Name the fuel.
Answer: DIESEL(6 letters)
3 This Japanese technology investment group's data-centre arm filed an amended registration statement last week for a Nasdaq debut under the ticker SBE, with Nvidia committing $1.5 billion at the IPO price. Name the parent.
Answer: SOFTBANK(8 letters)
4 In structured finance, this French-derived word names each slice of a securitisation or syndicated loan, with its own size, pricing and priority of payment: the senior slice is repaid before the junior ones absorb losses. What is the term?
Answer: TRANCHE(7 letters)
One slice of a security or loan, carrying its own risk, payment priority and yield.
5 The US federal fiscal year ends on September 30. When Congress cannot enact full-year spending bills by then, it usually keeps agencies open with a stopgap measure called a continuing ___, extending funding at roughly existing levels. What word completes it?
Answer: RESOLUTION(10 letters)
A continuing resolution: stopgap legislation that funds agencies at existing levels when Congress has not passed full-year appropriations.
1 On Sept. 5 the supervisory board of this Wolfsburg-based carmaker signed off on a "Future Plan 2030" overhaul that will eliminate a further 50,000 jobs across the group. Name the company.
Answer: VOLKSWAGEN(10 letters)
2 On Sept. 2 the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lifted its official cash rate to 2.75%, the same day the Bank of Canada held at 2.25%. What one-word nickname do currency traders use for the New Zealand dollar?
3 On Aug. 25 this Boca Raton-based digital infrastructure investment manager, spun out of Colony Capital, agreed to buy Australian smart-metering platform PLUS ES for about $3 billion. Name the buyer.
Answer: DIGITALBRIDGE(13 letters)
4 In corporate finance, this is the sale of a company's accounts receivable to a third party at a discount, giving the seller immediate cash while the buyer takes over collecting the invoices. What is the term?
Answer: FACTORING(9 letters)
Selling accounts receivable to a third party at a discount to get cash now instead of waiting for customers to pay.
5 On the third Friday of this month, stock-index futures, index options, single-stock options and single-stock futures all expire in one session. What word normally precedes "witching" to name that four-way quarterly expiry?
Answer: QUADRUPLE(9 letters)
Quadruple witching, the day when four kinds of derivatives expire at once: stock index futures, stock index options, single-stock options and single-stock futures.
1 The SEC said it is setting up a specialised unit inside its Division of Enforcement to pursue accounting and financial-reporting cases: the deliberate misstatement of results to mislead investors. What single word names that offence?
Answer: FRAUD(5 letters)
2 Government bonds sold off worldwide in early September. This Asian economy's 10-year yield hit its highest level since August 1996, while Germany's benchmark reached a 2011 high and the US 10-year touched 4.818%. Name that Asian country.
Answer: JAPAN(5 letters)
3 On Sept. 7 India's Tata Motors unveiled plans to buy this Turin-based maker of trucks, buses and defence vehicles, once part of Fiat and later spun out of CNH, creating a global commercial-vehicle player. Name the target.
Answer: IVECO(5 letters)
4 In contract law and derivatives clearing, this is the substitution of a new party or a new obligation for the original one, with the consent of all involved, extinguishing the old contract and replacing it with a fresh one. What is the term?
Answer: NOVATION(8 letters)
Replacing one party to a contract with a new party, with everyone's consent, so the original party is released from the obligation.
5 At quarter-end, some fund managers dump losers and pile into recent winners so the holdings shown in client reports flatter the portfolio they actually ran all quarter. What word completes the name of this practice, window ___?
Answer: DRESSING(8 letters)
Window dressing, adjusting a portfolio near the end of a reporting period so the holdings look better in the report than they did during it.
1 The British maker of the Range Rover and Defender said last week it will cut about 4,000 jobs, roughly 10% of its global workforce, after a bruising year. Which Indian conglomerate's motor arm owns that carmaker?
Answer: TATA(4 letters)
2 US July trade figures showed exports fell 2.1% while imports rose 2.8%, widening the monthly gap to $88.6 billion, a 24.4% jump from June. What single word names the shortfall that arises when a country buys more goods and services from abroad than it sells?
Answer: DEFICIT(7 letters)
A shortfall - government spending exceeding revenue in a period, or imports exceeding exports in the trade balance.
3 On Sept. 8, Seattle-based WaFd Inc. agreed to a $3.9 billion reverse merger with a Jacksonville, Florida online lender whose name is on the NFL stadium there. Name that Florida bank.
Answer: EVERBANK(8 letters)
4 In bond markets, this is the formal legal contract between an issuer and its bondholders that sets out the coupon, maturity, covenants and the trustee's duties, and governs what happens in a default. What is that document called?
Answer: INDENTURE(9 letters)
The contract governing a bond issue. It sets the interest rate, maturity, covenants, and what happens in a default.
5 Since 1950, US equities have delivered their worst average monthly return in one particular month, an anomaly often blamed on post-summer repositioning and fund year-end selling. Name that month.
Answer: SEPTEMBER(9 letters)
Saturday, September 12, 2026
1 Chip supplier Broadcom's quarterly results this week beat estimates as management flagged expanding custom AI accelerator work with OpenAI and with one other lab: the San Francisco developer of the Claude family of models. Name that lab.
Answer: ANTHROPIC(9 letters)
2 On Sept. 10 the Frankfurt-based central bank raised its three key rates by 25bp effective Sept. 16, after euro-area inflation hit 3.3%. The floor of its corridor, the rate paid to banks on overnight balances left at the central bank, is now 2.50%. Name that facility.
Answer: DEPOSIT(7 letters)
Money placed with a bank, which the bank owes back to the customer on demand or at an agreed date.
3 This San Francisco-based e-signature and agreement-management software company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue above Wall Street estimates this week, and lifted its full-year revenue and non-GAAP operating margin forecasts. Name the company.
Answer: DOCUSIGN(8 letters)
4 In valuation, this is a stream of identical cash flows that continues forever; its present value equals the periodic payment divided by the discount rate, and the growing version divides by the discount rate minus the growth rate. What is the term?
Answer: PERPETUITY(10 letters)
A stream of payments with no end date, and the formula used to value one: the payment divided by the discount rate.
5 The US federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. When Congress cannot move its twelve annual spending bills one at a time, it bundles many of them into a single giant package voted on all at once. What one word names that kind of catch-all bill?
Answer: OMNIBUS(7 letters)
A single large bill combining many appropriations measures into one vote.
1 The Fed cut its policy rate by a quarter point this week with near-unanimous backing; only one governor, a White House economic adviser before joining the board, dissented in favour of a half-point move. Give his surname.
Answer: MIRAN(5 letters)
2 US consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, putting the all-items annual rate at 3.4%, while the reading that strips out food and energy ran at 2.4%. What one-word adjective names that top-line measure including volatile food and fuel costs?
Answer: HEADLINE(8 letters)
Headline inflation: the all-items rate, including food and energy.
3 This Austin-based database and cloud-infrastructure company beat Wall Street in its fiscal first quarter this week, posting adjusted earnings of $1.92 a share on revenue of $19.35 billion against forecasts of $1.74. Name the company.
Answer: ORACLE(6 letters)
4 In takeover defence, this is the practice of repurchasing a hostile investor's block of shares at a premium to the market price so the raider walks away, a payoff other holders are not offered. What is the term?
Answer: GREENMAIL(9 letters)
Buying a large stake in a company, threatening a takeover, and then selling the stake back to the company at a premium to go away.
5 US taxpayers whose income is not subject to withholding must prepay their federal tax in four instalments during the year, with the third one due on September 15. What single word describes those quarterly prepayments of tax?
Answer: ESTIMATED(9 letters)
Estimated tax: quarterly prepayments of US federal income tax by people whose income is not subject to withholding.