Finance terms from the week of Monday, September 14, 2026
35 clues and answers from Monday, September 14, 2026 to Sunday, September 20, 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 Shares of the Austin-based electric-vehicle maker suffered their worst session since July, sliding more than 6%, after investors panned the unveiling of its two-seat, steering-wheel-free robotaxi. What is that new vehicle called?
Answer: CYBERCAB(8 letters)
2 This New York-based drugmaker, maker of the Comirnaty vaccine and the former owner of Lipitor, saw its stock change hands at $29.09 this week, a level not seen since October 2024, as big pharma lagged a jittery market. Name the company.
Answer: PFIZER(6 letters)
3 This Silver Lake-backed designer of field-programmable gate arrays, carved out of Intel, is preparing a share sale that could value it at about $2 billion. Name the chipmaker lining up that market debut.
Answer: ALTERA(6 letters)
4 In lending, this is the pledging of an asset as collateral for a loan while the borrower keeps ownership and use of it; when a broker reuses client collateral pledged this way, the practice takes a 're-' prefix. What is the term?
Answer: HYPOTHECATION(13 letters)
Pledging an asset as collateral for a loan while keeping ownership and use of it. A mortgage is the common example: the house secures the loan, and the borrower still lives in it.
5 The US federal government closes its books on September 30 rather than December 31, and many companies pick their own year-end too. What one-word adjective describes a 12-month accounting year that does not line up with the calendar year?
Answer: FISCAL(6 letters)
Describing a 12-month accounting year that need not match the calendar. The US federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
1 Global AI-linked shares slid on Monday, Sept. 15, pulling the S&P 500 down 0.6%, after the chief executive of Claude developer Anthropic publicly urged a slowdown in the race to build ever more capable AI systems. Give his surname.
Answer: AMODEI(6 letters)
2 US crude futures for October delivery settled near $103 a barrel late last week, a few dollars under the North Sea benchmark, after August inflation data came in close to forecasts. One word completes the name of that American grade: West Texas ___.
Answer: INTERMEDIATE(12 letters)
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude benchmark, delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma.
3 On Sept. 4 stockholders of this Dallas-based maker of construction aggregates, wind towers and barges approved its acquisition by Irish building-materials group CRH at a special meeting. Name the target company.
Answer: ARCOSA(6 letters)
4 In corporate finance, a borrower places cash or risk-free securities in a trust sufficient to service a bond issue to maturity, letting the debt come off the balance sheet even though it is not legally cancelled. What one word names that arrangement?
Answer: DEFEASANCE(10 letters)
Setting aside assets, usually government securities, whose cash flows are enough to cover a debt, so the debt is treated as settled in substance.
5 Heading into this month's third-Friday quarterly expiry, huge open interest can tug a stock toward the strike where the most contracts would expire worthless, holding it near that level into the close. What single word names that phenomenon?
Answer: PINNING(7 letters)
The tendency of a stock to close near a heavily traded option strike price on expiry day, as traders hedging those options buy and sell into the close.
1 On Sept. 9 this Saudi-founded payments gateway agreed to buy Amazon's Payment Services business across the Middle East and North Africa in a deal valued at about $100 million. Name the acquirer.
Answer: PAYTABS(7 letters)
2 The ECB lifted its three key rates by a quarter point on Sept. 10, taking effect today. The middle of the three, charged when banks borrow at the weekly main ___ operations, now stands at 2.65%. What single word fills that blank?
Answer: REFINANCING(11 letters)
Replacing existing debt with new debt, usually to lower the rate, extend maturity, or change terms.
3 Tilman Fertitta's entertainment group, the owner of Golden Nugget, struck a $17.6 billion agreement to take private this Las Vegas-based casino giant, whose flagship Strip resort is named for a Roman emperor. Name the target.
Answer: CAESARS(7 letters)
4 In accounting, this is the systematic charging to expense of the cost of a natural resource (an oil field, a mine, a timber tract) in proportion to the units actually extracted or harvested during the period. What is the term?
Answer: DEPLETION(9 letters)
The accounting method that spreads the cost of a natural resource over the units extracted, the way depreciation spreads the cost of equipment over its life.
5 As each quarter closes, banks shrink their balance sheets for reporting dates, draining cash from the overnight market where Treasuries are lent as collateral and pushing that secured funding rate sharply higher. What is this market's short name?
Answer: REPO(4 letters)
Short for repurchase agreement: selling a security and agreeing to buy it back shortly afterward at a slightly higher price. It functions as a short-term secured loan.
1 On Sept. 10 the Frankfurt-based central bank lifted its three key rates by a quarter point, effective Sept. 16, after euro-area inflation hit 3.3%. Give the surname of the French former IMF managing director who has presided over its Governing Council since 2019.
Answer: LAGARDE(7 letters)
2 Ahead of Wednesday's US policy decision, futures priced a quarter-point move up in the target range to 3.75%-4.00%, which would be the first such step since 2023. What single word names a cycle of rising policy rates intended to cool demand and inflation?
Answer: TIGHTENING(10 letters)
Central bank policy that restrains activity - raising rates or shrinking the balance sheet - usually to bring inflation down.
3 On Sept. 9 this Minneapolis-based apartment landlord, a REIT once known as Investors Real Estate Trust, agreed to a takeover by Innovative Realty Trust valued at about $2.14 billion. Name the target company.
Answer: CENTERSPACE(11 letters)
4 In economics, this measures how strongly the quantity demanded of a good responds to a change in its price: the percentage change in quantity divided by the percentage change in price. What is the term?
Answer: ELASTICITY(10 letters)
How much the quantity demanded or supplied of something changes when its price changes.
5 The third quarter's books close on Sept. 30, and auditors check whether a sale shipped on the final day was booked in that period rather than the next. What single word names that period-boundary test for recording transactions?
Answer: CUTOFF(6 letters)
Friday, September 18, 2026
1 The US central bank raised the federal funds rate on Sept. 16 for the first time since 2023, saying a steady labour market and costly energy have kept the annual pace of price rises too far above its 2% goal. What single word names that general rise in the price level?
Answer: INFLATION(9 letters)
The rate at which the general price level rises, so each unit of currency buys less than it did. Usually quoted as a year-over-year percentage change in a price index such as CPI.
2 Supply-disruption fears pushed oil past the $100 mark this week: the North Sea November contract settled near $108 a barrel and the US October contract near $103. What single word, placed before "oil", names the unrefined petroleum those benchmarks price?
Answer: CRUDE(5 letters)
Unrefined oil as it comes from the ground, before it is processed into fuels.
3 On Sept. 11 this Alachua, Florida-based maker of surgical nerve-repair implants agreed to acquire BioCircuit Technologies for about $200 million, adding nerve-monitoring and connector technology. Name the acquirer.
Answer: AXOGEN(6 letters)
4 In lending, this is the contractual ranking that places one creditor's claim behind another's, so the junior lender is repaid only after the senior debt has been satisfied in a bankruptcy or liquidation. What is that arrangement called?
Answer: SUBORDINATION(13 letters)
An agreement that ranks one creditor's claim behind another's, so the senior claim is paid first if the borrower fails.
5 As the third quarter's books close on Sept. 30, accountants compare each ledger balance with an independent record such as a bank statement and investigate every difference before results are reported. What single word names that closing check?
Answer: RECONCILIATION(14 letters)
In the US Congress, a budget process that lets certain spending and tax bills pass the Senate with a simple majority and limited debate.
1 The chairman of the US securities regulator said this week the agency is "fast tracking" rulemaking that would let listed companies report results twice a year rather than every three months. Give his surname.
Answer: ATKINS(6 letters)
2 On Sept. 16 the Fed's rate-setting committee lifted its target range a quarter point to 3.75%-4%, the first increase since 2023, with all twelve members voting yes and nobody dissenting. What one-word adjective describes a vote like that?
Answer: UNANIMOUS(9 letters)
3 On Sept. 10 this Dallas-headquartered online vehicle auction and salvage company agreed to acquire digital wholesale car marketplace ACV Auctions in a deal valued at about $1.9 billion. Name the buyer.
Answer: COPART(6 letters)
4 In futures markets, this is the condition in which contracts for later delivery trade above the current cash price, so a buyer who keeps rolling a long position into the next month steadily loses value. What is the term?
Answer: CONTANGO(8 letters)
A futures market where contracts for later delivery trade above nearer ones, so the curve slopes upward.
5 The US federal fiscal year closes on Sept. 30, so agencies scramble in the final weeks to legally commit unspent appropriations to contracts and grants before the authority lapses. What single word names that legal commitment of budgeted money?
Answer: OBLIGATION(10 letters)
Sunday, September 20, 2026
1 On Sept. 16 the US central bank lifted its benchmark rate a quarter point, its first increase since 2023, and the chair defended the decision at the post-meeting press conference. Give the surname of the former Fed governor and Bush White House aide who now leads the Board.
Answer: WARSH(5 letters)
2 Alongside Wednesday's rate rise the Fed published its quarterly grid in which each official marks expected growth, joblessness, prices and rates; it pencilled in one more increase this year. One word completes the document's title: Summary of Economic ___.
Answer: PROJECTIONS(11 letters)
3 A Houston billionaire's entertainment group, owner of the Golden Nugget casinos and the Landry's restaurant chain, struck a $17.6 billion agreement to take Caesars Entertainment private. Give the surname that gives the acquiring group its name.
Answer: FERTITTA(8 letters)
4 In acquisition accounting, this intangible asset is the amount by which the price paid for a business exceeds the fair value of its identifiable net assets; it is not amortised under US GAAP but tested each year for impairment. What is it called?
Answer: GOODWILL(8 letters)
The premium an acquirer pays for a business above the fair value of its identifiable net assets, recorded as an intangible asset.
5 In the final minutes of the last session of a quarter, some traders push orders through to lift a holding's final printed price and flatter quarter-end valuations. Regulators call this manipulative practice "marking the ___". What single word fills the blank?