HY
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | High yield |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Business & Finance, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | Hy. |
HY has two meanings. It stands for High yield (bond & Fixed-Income) or Henry (given name).
Meanings of HY at a glance
| # | HY stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | High yield | Business & Finance › Bond & Fixed-Income |
| 2 | Henry | Writing & Everyday › Given Name |
1. High yield
Business & Finance · Bond & Fixed-Income Abbreviations
Bonds rated below investment grade, BB+ or lower by S&P and Fitch or Ba1 or lower by Moody's, which pay higher yields to compensate for greater default risk. They are also called junk bonds or speculative-grade bonds.
Example: HY spreads widened by 80 basis points in a week as recession fears grew.
The US high-yield market grew rapidly in the 1980s, driven by Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Default rates on HY bonds can jump above 10 percent in severe recessions. Issuers include leveraged buyout companies, younger growth firms and "fallen angels" downgraded from investment grade.
2. Henry (Hy.)
Writing & Everyday · Given Name Abbreviations
Uncommon but genuine contraction of Henry in older documents, receipts and business names, sometimes written Hy without a period or as Hen. It keeps only the first and last letters.
Example: The receipt is signed Hy. Tate, agent for the Lancashire Insurance Company.
Henry was the name of eight English kings, which kept it popular for centuries. The Latin form Henricus appears in parish registers. Hy is a contraction of the first and last letters, like Wm. for William.
Related abbreviations
More bond & Fixed-Income abbreviations
- EURIBOR – Euro Interbank Offered Rate
- FRA – Forward rate agreement
- FRN – Floating-rate note
- GO – General obligation bond
- IG – Investment grade
- IRS – Interest rate swap
- JGB – Japanese government bond
- LIBOR – London Interbank Offered Rate
See all 42 bond & Fixed-Income abbreviations →